"Construction's done," he replied. "Now everything just has to grow in."
"I give up," Amy said, "Let’s go."
A minute later, Ethan opened the door to the roof for Amy. She couldn't believe what she saw. The roof, which had been a wide expanse of rubber and tar, was now transformed into a small park in the sky. The large air conditioners in the corner were now hidden by a wood wall, and the deck, which stretched out before them was surrounded by lush greenery. Amy felt like she was stepping into someone’s private garden and not onto the roof of her office building. After a moment, she realized why she couldn’t hear the sounds of the city below: there was a small fountain built into one of the new walls, and the sound of the water made the whole scene that much more relaxing.
"Is this?" Amy asked, spinning around. "Did you?"
Ethan pointed over to a table set up under a pergola on one end of the deck. "I wanted you to have a place to go when work got too stressful. You’ll have shade in the summer and sun in the spring and the fall. Hopefully this will help you relieve some stress."
Amy wrapped her arms around Ethan and kissed him. "Well, work isn’t half as stressful as dealing with you.”
“Thanks. I’ll keep this in mind next time I try to do something nice for you.”
"This is the most thoughtful and probably most expensive thing anyone's ever done for me." As soon as she finished her sentence, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “Ethan, this is incredible, really, but I need you to ask me about these things before you do them.”
“I don’t see that being a problem,” Ethan said. He had a mischievous grin.
“Why the smile?”
“Well this building only has one roof.”
Amy placed her palm on Ethan’s cheek. “Very funny. You know what I meant. Please, consult me before making major decisions about us.”
“Is it ok that I made a few more minor decisions?” Ethan asked. He leaned back and grabbed the picnic basket off the ground.
“It depends on what they were,” Amy said, eyeing the wicker basket.
“Wine and cheese pairing.”
“Maybe I can let it slide this time,” she said before kissing him again.
Ethan turned and met her kiss, meeting her tongue with his, running his hands up and down her back as if he wanted to possess every inch of her before the kiss was through. He held her there in his arms for a moment before she pulled her lips back and smiled at him.
"I'm starving," she said, “and your time’s almost up. What else is in the basket?"
Ethan laughed. "Come with me over to the table, and I'll show you."
"So you're really the reason a crane was blocking my view for the past few weeks? When did you do all of this?"
"Remember when I had to leave at the beginning of the trip? I made a detour on my way back. I wanted to do this for you as a surprise. As for the crane, I requested that they place it directly in front of your window, because I knew it would drive you nuts," Ethan said as he opened up the basket. Amy sat down across the table from him and leaned back in her chair, letting the warm spring breeze wash over her body.
"You’re not making a good case for extra time. Ok, now the important question: do I get to keep this all to myself, or do I have to share?"
Ethan shook his head. "Your sister and Rich already know. I had to ask for their help in making sure that you didn't catch on before I had a chance to show you," Ethan said. “Callie helped me negotiate an extension of your lease to cover the roof deck which means you’re technically still in your office. So you can stay up here however long you like.”
"Oh, they'll pay for that," Amy joked.
“Go easy on them. Believe it or not, they were trying to do something nice for you.”
“I know,” Amy said, “but this is really above and beyond. Ethan. I don’t know what to say. No one’s ever done anything like this for me before. I really don’t know what to say.”
“Thank you works.”
“Thank you.” Amy leaned against Ethan and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re full of surprises.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“Today it is. The whole proposing out of the blue thing? I’m still waiting to see how that one turns out. But surprises can definitely be good. Maybe I’ll find a way to surprise you one of these days.”
“You can start by staying here with me for a while.” He reached into the basket and pulled out a bottle of wine.
Amy watched him uncork it and pour a glass. “Well, that’s not fair. I think you expected to charm me into staying. Put the wine down for a moment. I need to ask you something important.”