Countdown of Love

Prompt: A story featuring a countdown

March 11, 2018

20 days since she’d last seen her boyfriend. He wasn’t missing or anything, he just lived three hours away. It was hard, but they made it work. Phone calls every night, texting throughout the day.  Every time they were able to spend time together was pure bliss.
19 more problems left on her college algebra assignment. It wasn’t hard, just monotonous. She had incentive to focus though. Her boyfriend was on his way now, and she wanted to be able to enjoy the weekend without college work as a burden.
18 was the answer to one of the questions and it was so simple that when she realized it was the answer, she felt like a fool. She hoped the rest of the problems would be so easy.  Then again, that might be a bad idea, because chances were, she would overthink them.
17 more minutes until a break. She had self imposed breaks, otherwise the algebra would fry her brain. However, she wasn’t sure she’d take the break this time. The more time she spent on her work, the less she’d have to do when she was with her boyfriend.
16 thoughts raced through her mind at once. None of them had a thing to do with algebra. Instead, she thought of her boyfriend. They had already made plans to go to the Mexican restaurant a town away for lunch. After that, they were going to the zoo.  From there, it would be an exciting, unknown adventure.
15 problems left! And the next five were so simple she could have almost done them in her sleep. Sure enough, she finished them quickly and smiled happily. So close to finished, and so close to seeing her boyfriend again.
14 new messages?! She laughed when she saw the memes her friend had sent her, then another message came through.
“Is he coming this weekend?”
“Yes! I'm finishing homework now so I don't have to worry about it when he’s here.”
“Oooh, sounds exciting!”
“As soon as he gets here, we're going to leave for lunch. We're eating at the same place we ate for our first date.”
“So romantic!”
“It was his idea. He's super romantic. I also suggested the zoo afterward and he thought that was a good idea.”
“I would hope so!  Do you really want to date a guy who doesn’t want to go to the zoo?”
“Hmm...not really.  I think I would rather spend my time and money on a guy who loves animals as much as me.”
“Do you think he’d let you buy a zoo?”
“...I doubt it.”
“Then he doesn’t love animals as much as you.”
“...oh well….  Anyway, I’ve got to finish this algebra up, ttyl.”
13 was her favorite number. One of the many things she and her boyfriend had in common. Another thing they had in common was their love of video games. Sometimes they played with each other, but often they played against each other.
Usually, if they played against each other, she would end up screeching at him to stop killing her and he would be laughing almost evilly. She tried... but some games she just couldn't figure out.
12 months are in each year. How many years could a relationship last? Her previous relationships had never made it to a year, and his last relationship only survived for a year. Other people were able to make their relationships last for decades. And that’s what they both wanted for their relationship.
11 times 11 equals 121. 6 times 6 equals 36. Add them together and take the square root? 157. Ha. There was no square root, it was prime. She glanced up at the clock. He should be here soon.
10 more minutes...approximately. She'd finished her algebra and now waited impatiently for his arrival. To keep herself from exploding with excitement, she busied herself with cleaning. It wasn't that her room was dirty per say (she had already cleaned it), but it could always be cleaner.
9 minutes later, she was running down the stairs. He was here! She hadn't thought about shoes in her haste, so rushed across the wet grass in her sock feet. Launching herself at her boyfriend she hugged him tightly around the neck.
“I missed you!”
“I missed you too.”  He returned her embrace and kissed her softly on the lips.
“Never leave again!”
He laughed. “Not until Monday, sweetie.”
She hugged him tighter. “Come in?”
8 minutes was all it took to bring his bags in. It wouldn’t have even taken that long, but she’d spent such a long time hugging him before coming in.
“7 new drawings in my sketchbook. Do you want to look now or later?” he asked.
She chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip. “How about after our date?” It wasn't that she didn't want to look at them, just that first she wanted to eat.
He nodded. “Okay. And I brought a new movie to watch. Well, a whole set. Here, look how long the whole set takes to watch.” He handed to to her and laughed as her eyes bulged
“6 hours long???”
He only grinned. “Two hours per movie. I heard it was really good.”
“Maybe we shouldn't watch them all tonight....”
“Okay, fine,” he pouted teasingly.  “Are we going to go now?”
“5 minutes! I need to pee.”
It didn't take long to arrive at the restaurant. As usual, she blew her straw paper at him as he sat stoically, waiting the blow. He sighed.
“You are such a dork.”
“But you love me.”
He raised an eyebrow and she laughed.  He grinned back and nodded.  “Yes, I do love you, you dork.”
“4 dollars? Is that a good tip?” Her boyfriend asked.
“Uhh...I don't know. Maybe 7? She was a really good waitress!”
“Okay, 7 then.”
3 hours they spent at the zoo.  It was so much fun that neither really noticed the time speeding by.  They took their time looking at the animals.
Her favorites were the giraffes, his favorites were the coatis.  She was so excited when she found out she could feed the giraffes for five dollars, but got grossed out when the giraffe missed the giraffe wafer and licked her hand instead.
2 years.  They had been together for two long years.  That was a record for both of them.  And yet they still loved each other.  Not the same as they did when they first started dating.  Their love was deeper and more intense than it had been at the beginning.
Now they knew the little annoying habits the other had.  How he tapped everything with his fingernails until she took it away in annoyance.  How she told him he didn’t need to apologize, yet had severe sorry-itis herself.  Yet, despite this knowledge, they continued to love each other.
The rest of their date was wonderful.  They went to see a movie.  It was a romance and they both enjoyed it.  They teased about making out during the movie if no one else showed up, but the theater was much more crowded than they’d expected.
After the movie was Walmart.  Not extremely romantic, but enjoyable nonetheless.  They each bought a new sketchbook, and he bought a new package of markers for drawing.
Then they went home.
“Honey?”  She snuggled closer to him on the couch.
“Hmm?”
“How many true loves do you think one person can have?”
“True loves?”
She nodded.
“1.  One true love.  Like fairytales.”
“Well, however many someone can have, you’re my only one.”
He hugged her tight.  “And you’re mine.”

©2018 Katie Holm