Stuck Inside
- Lauren Florence
- Aug 18, 2020
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 20, 2020
As the light filtered through the window onto Zoe’s face, she began stirring from her sleep. She turned over, trying to move her face from the sun; but it was no good, she was awake now. Letting out a sigh, she turned her face to the clock on the bedside table; it read 9:00. Nine a.m., she hadn’t gotten up that early in weeks. Not since the quarantine happened. Normally she slept till noon or a little after; really, she didn’t see the point of getting up early anymore. She didn’t have to go to work and she could barely go outside, so she just stayed in bed or on the couch in her pajamas all day.
She rolled over onto her back and sighed.
“Might as well get up,” she mumbled to herself.
With a groan she stretched and then sat up. She looked over to the other side of the bed expecting to see the body of her fiance there, but his side was empty. She frowned, where was he? Normally he stayed in bed with her.
“Levi?” she called out.
No answer.
“Levi?”
Still nothing. She got up and walked into the adjoining bathroom. It was empty. So she walked into the hall. Halfway down she stopped. She smelled pancakes. Her favorite breakfast. It had been so long since she had something other than cereal.
Walking into the kitchen, she stopped and smiled at the scene: Levi in her purple apron, stirring batter, and flipping pancakes. He looked so cute, she could barely take it. His hair and beard had grown out a bit and he had a slight frown on his face as he was concentrating on stirring the batter.
When he scooped up some batter with his finger and licked it off, he looked so much like a kid that she couldn’t help but giggle a bit. That caused him to look up at her. He blushed at being caught tasting out of the bowl.
“You’re up early,” she commented as she padded toward him.
He nodded. “Yeah, I got tired of sleeping in.”
“Hmm, well I missed you next to me in bed.”
“Sorry, I thought I’d make breakfast,” he told her, gesturing to the table. “I thought about bringing it to you in bed, but since you’re up…”
She went to take a seat, watching Levi move around the kitchen, making small conversation with her until he had finished making breakfast. He carried over a few plates, like a waiter. There were the pancakes she saw him cooking, toast, bacon, and scrambled eggs. He went to the counter and poured them both coffee.
She grinned at him as he sat down.
“What?” he asked.
“You’re being so sweet, it’s odd…”
“Hey! I’m the sweetest guy ever!” he said, mocked offended.
“Mmm-hmm, but we’ve been stuck inside for days and this is the first time you’ve done this… What are you up to? What did you do?”
He shrugged as he cut up his pancakes. “Just wanted to change things up a bit.”
Zoe nodded her head, she completely understood. They both hadn’t been able to go to work or out to eat or to a bar or anything, and frankly, it was making them both a little stir crazy. They enjoyed each other’s company though so that made things a little better. But so far her days were spent between sleeping, reading, and watching television; and it was getting old fast.
“So today,” he said after a few more bites. “I planned some things for us. You know to stave off the boredom.”
“Oh, so it wasn’t just breakfast?”
“Nope, this is just part one.”
“Okay…. So what’s next?”
He smiled at her and took a sip of coffee, with a twinkle in his eye. She had no idea what he could have possibly have planned but she figured it would be good.
Once breakfast was finished and they both cleared the plates and put them in the dishwasher, she turned to him and told him that she had to get some work done first and then she’d have time for his surprises.
“Perfect,” he said. “I have a few calls to make.”
About two hours later, she finished with the few things she had to do for work. She went to find him in the living room.
“All finished. What’s next?” she asked curiously.
“Okay,” he said rubbing his hands together. “Movie time.” And then he ran off into the hall.
Zoe frowned a bit, they always watched movies. How could this be any different?
Her question was answered almost immediately. She watched in surprise as Levi came out with his arms full of sheets, blankets and pillows.
“Babe, uh, what are you doing? I thought we were gonna watch a movie?”
“We are,” he said, dumping the linen on the couch. “But we’re gonna make a pillow fort first.”
“A… a pillow fort?”
“Yep,” he grinned at the look on her face. “C’mon, it’ll be fun. We’ll be like little kids. We’ll watch Disney movies and just pig out on candy.”
“We don’t have candy.”
“You lie, I know you have a stash somewhere.”
She was caught. She did have a stash she’d thought was hidden. With a sigh she went to get it as he set up the fort.
Levi hadn’t made much progress as she returned into the living room. She laughed at him almost tangled in the sheets.
He laughed too and told her to come help him. Once they got the fort set up, he climbed in and reached out to her to pull her in next to him. she settled on the pillows next to him and pulled out the bag of candy she had.
“Okay,” she said. “What’s the first movie?”
He pulled out The Little Mermaid. She couldn’t help but grin. That was her favorite. She cuddled up next to him in her fort and watched. After that, They watched The Lion King, then Robin Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. They both sang along and recited the lines, since they both had seen them a million times before. It was more fun than she normally had watching movies.
He was about to put on Hercules, when a video call came through on the screen of the TV.
“Aww, come on!” she whined.
Levi laughed. “Not to worry, this is another part of the surprise.”
He answered the call and his friend Aiden popped up on the screen.
“Hey, man, you ready for this?” Aiden asked. “Hey, Zoe! How ya doin?”
“I’m good, Aiden, how you holdin up? And ready for what?” she turned to Levi. “What’s goin on?”
“You didn’t tell her?” Aiden asked.
“Nah, I figured a surprise would be better,” Levi answered.
Aiden laughed, and she looked between the two. “What’s going on?”
“We’re doing karaoke over video call,” Levi told her. “You said a few days ago that you missed not being able to do it. So I called Aiden and he and Wyatt agreed to do it with us. We’ll pick their song and they’ll pick ours.”
It took a second for the idea to sink in, when it did, she cracked up.
“Okay, let’s do this! Who’s going first?”
“Ladies choice,” Levi said.
Aiden called Wyatt in as she thought of a song for them to sing.
“Oh, okay, I got it. Hey Wyatt!” she waved. “You guys will be singing ‘Livin On a Prayer.’”
They both laughed, but pulled up the track. She and Levi laughed along with them as they sang through the song. They in turn picked “Don’t Go Breakin My Heart” for them and they both decided to one up them by adding dance steps to theirs. The four of them went back and forth singing and dancing for a couple of hours. She had to admit it was as fun as when they actually went out to karaoke.
After they ended the video call with them, promising they’d do it again (but there'd be more people involved next time), she realized how hungry she was. The candy she had eaten was hours ago.
Levi ordered Chinese food for her; and while she was waiting on the food to be delivered, he disappeared out on the back porch. When the food came, she wandered outside to see what else he was up to.
She gasped when she saw what he had done.
There were lights twinkling around the rail of the porch, leftover from a party They had months ago. The patio table had a tablecloth over it with candles lit on the table. He was setting the last plate on the table, when he spotted her.
“What do you think, Zoe?”
“Levi, babe, it’s beautiful.”
“Yeah, well since we can’t go to our favorite restaurant, I figured we’d do this.”
She went over and gave him a huge kiss.
“You’re the best.”
He blushed, then pulled her chair out for her. As she sat, he began unpacking the food and putting it on her plate. He then sat next to her. They both enjoyed the meal, laughing, talking, and joking around. It made her realize that even though she had been stuck inside together they hadn't really done much together. And today had been better than some date nights she’d had.
Once the food was gone, they both sat back in their chairs, her hand in his, to watch the sunset. She loved how the sky turned from pink, to purple, to black. The fireflies came out as the two sat in peace.
“One more thing, sweetheart,” he said, getting up.
“What?”
“You’ll see, just sit here until I come get you.”
She nodded and reached for the bottle of wine they’d had with dinner to refill her glass. Then sat back and watched the stars come out.
She had started to doze, when Levi came back out and shook her.
“Okay, ready?”
“Yep,” she said getting up, and taking his hand.
He led her back inside through her room and into her bathroom. There were more candles lit around the sink and a few on the floor and around the tub, which was filled with a warm bubble bath.
She turned to look at him, a huge smile plastered on her face.
“Levi, I… this is amazing,” she paused. “You are amazing.”
Then she launched into his arms giving him a kiss.
“Okay, I’ll leave you…”
“What? You aren’t joining me?”
“Well, I…”
“Come on, you deserve this much more than I do. Hop in.”
He grinned and nodded in agreement. The both of them undressed and got in, causing water to slosh over the side onto the floor. They didn’t mind, it made the both of them laugh. They goofed around splashing each other and blowing the foam at each other.
Soon the water had turned cool.
“Wanna get out?” he asked.
“Nah,” she said, reaching over to let some water drain out, then running more hot water to heat up the tub.
She had brought in the wine from dinner and two glasses and the two toasted each other. Then she leaned back onto his chest and stayed like that, relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. She had to admit that it wasn’t a bad way to spend the day stuck inside.
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