The Mastermind

If you haven't read this post, go on and read it.  I'll wait.


Okay, now that we're on the same page, let's continue.
It was sunny, warm, Friday, June 10th.
As of 3:30, Carl and I had been together the entire day.
At 3:30, we arrived at a local pool where we were going to lounge around with my parents for a couple of hours.  Carl went to the men's room to change into his swim suit, and I went into the ladies' room.  The doors were directly across the hall from one another.  As we both opened our respective doors to go our respective ways, Carl made a face at me and told me that his stomach was hurting something terrible.  I told him I hope he felt better, and we went to the restrooms to change.
At 3:35, I had come out before Carl did, but I didn't think much of it since his stomach was hurting.  I figured he must've eaten something bad the day before.  I joined my parents outside by the pool and explained Carl's unfortunate situation.  My poor guy.
At 4:05, half an hour had passed when I was starting to get concerned.  I text messaged him but I didn't get a response.  I waited a few minutes and called him.  He said his stomach was starting to feel better and he would be out soon.
At 4:25, he still had not showed up outside.  Getting worried again, I called him.  He made me feel better when he said he had actually moved to the lobby in order to fix a customer's machine.  Something out of the ordinary had occurred with a customer's site, and so Carl was on the phone directing the customer how to correct the issue.  I informed my parents why he was missing out on the pool, and having to deal with work.
At 5:00, Carl finally emerged in his swimming trunks.

"Geeze, are you feeling better?" I asked.
"Yeah, I was working with a customer for a while."  He explained what the customer had to do, and told me she had finally calmed down after speaking with him for so long.

We swam in the warm water and bathed in the sun for another hour or so, but it was about time for us to leave.  We wanted to make sure we had enough time reserved for our dinner date.  My parents had packed a table in their car for us to bring to Austin's grandmother's house so that we would have a table for Austin's upcoming pool party.  So, after we had all dried off, Carl said he was going to go move the car to get closer to my parents' car.  I told him it was pointless because we were already parked side by side.  How much closer did he want to get?  Geeze.  Why did it feel like he was trying to get away from me so much today?  I chalked up Carl's oddness to me being paranoid.
We got out to the car, and I realized he had actually moved the car somewhat further away from my parents' car.  At this point, I was convinced he was just trying to be difficult and I was going to have to have a little talk with him later once we were alone.  I first addressed this issue to him when we were loading the the table into the car.

"You could've left the car next to my parents' car, ya know."
"I was thinking the table was longer so it would make more sense to just walk it across the way straight into our trunk." he answered.
"That's crazy, you should've left the car where it was."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Now, those of you who know Carl know how opposite of his typical behavior this was.  I couldn't figure out why things had been so awkward that day, but I chalked it up to just an odd day.  Everyone has them, so no big deal.  It wasn't until later that night when we had arrived at the Sweetwater Branch Inn that Carl confessed that when he had told me he was in the bathroom and dealing with a client, he was actually speeding across town to check in at Sweetwater Branch Inn.  You see, my sweet Carl wanted to surprise me so badly that he actually left the pool after convincing me he was sick and working with a client, to go all the way across town to check in between the required hours of 4:00 and 7:00pm.
He never ceases to amaze me.  And let me tell you how not easy of a task it was for Carl to escape my loving "wrath" for lack of a better word.  You see, for the entire week he was here, I was stuck to him like glue, rarely letting him out of my sight.  I'm pretty sure he learned how to do everything with just one hand, since I wouldn't let go of the other hand for an entire week.  Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating on that last line.
To my Carl, thank you for making our second anniversary one that I will never forget.  You are amazing.
To everyone else reading this, sorry for being so mushy.  I kept it as simple as possible so as to not scare you off.
"I remember well the day we wed, I can see that picture in my head...I still believe the words we said forever will ring true."