As soon as Regina got home, she went to bed with her thoughts on Jaden. She wasn’t sure why she thought of him so much, but she was waken to the sound of her cell ringing. Regina groggily looked at the caller to find it was Parker.

“Parker?” Regina said surprised, feeling guilty about the dream she woke up to.

“Hey, beautiful.” Parker said cheerfully when he heard the sound of Regina’s voice. “Happy birthday, love.”

“Omigosh!” Regina said surprised yet thankful. “I completely forgot about my birthday!”

“Been busy working?”

“Yeah. The boss is a real slave driver!” Regina lied.

“Well, cheer up baby. I have good news!”

“Really? What is it?” Regina said happily.

“I get a weekend leave this weekend. So I’ll be home to celebrate your birthday.”

“That’s great, Parker.” Regina exclaimed.

“I have big plans for you, baby.”

“I can’t wait.” Regina said with worry, but trying to hide it so Parker wouldn’t notice.

“Well, kisses until this weekend love.” Parker said.

“You too.” Regina said before Parker hung up.

Parker will be here by the end of the week. As much as she was excited to see Parker, thoughts of Jaden flooded her mind, although she didn’t know why. She was with Parker. Jaden shouldn’t be an issue?

Regina got dressed and went down to have breakfast with the family. But as usual, the family was too busy for a get together. That’s when Regina found a note left from her mother:

“Regina,

This was delivered to you last night before you got home. I assume it was Parker leaving you a birthday gift.

Love, Mom”

Regina opened the package to find another bottle of strawberry wine and a note left from the mystery admirer.

Wondering if her admirer was Jaden, Regina pushed the thought out of her mind when there was a knock on her door.

“Looks like you have an admirer!” Jaden said, when Regina went to answer the door.

“Jaden!” Regina said surprised to see him. “Did you do this?”

“No.” Jaden said, knowing he did but not wanting to reveal himself as the mystery guy.

“I wonder who did?” Regina said curiously.

“Who cares?” Jaden said. “Let’s just enjoy it anyway.”

Jaden needed to gain Regina’s trust before he revealed himself to her as the mystery guy sending her the Strawberry wine. He needed to be sure that there was no one else in her life.

Regina had the day off so her and Jaden enjoyed lunch at the beach bar before heading to their favorite spot. But thoughts of Parker and their weekend kept cropping up. Regina wondered if she should tell Jaden the truth about her boyfriend, but she didn’t want to spoil the moment between them, so she kept silent about Parker and came up with an excuse for not seeing him this weekend.

“Jaden?” Regina began. “I have to go out of town this weekend.”

“Oh? Where are you going?”

“I have to visit my grandmother for her birthday up north.” Regina lied.

“Okay. When will you be back?”

“On Monday.”

“Okay. You will let me know when you will get back?” Jaden asked.

“Sure.” Regina quipped, knowing she just lied to her friend.

But for the most part, Regina decided it was best to enjoy the day before she had meet Parker this weekend.

“Well, Jaden, I had better go.” Regina hated to tell him. “I have to get packed for my trip to my grandmother’s.”

“Okay,” Jaden said, despite sounding bummed. “I’ll see you on Monday when you get back.”

“Well, see you on Monday.” Regina said packing her bag and heading to her car.

Jaden watched Regina head back to her car and started packing up the picnic lunch he had set out before Regina arrived. He hated lying to her, but now was not the time to reveal himself to her.