“Well?” prodded Carl. “What does it say?”
After first checking for intimate details, he read the message aloud, “Happy birthday, darling. Surprise!! I smuggled in this perfume to give you something to remember me by. I hope it made the trip unscathed. Remember I love you and come home safely, Emma.” Everyone applauded as Brandon reached into the box and pulled out the smallest perfume bottle he had ever laid his eyes upon, a single dram in a tiny vile.
Valerie smiled broadly and added, “Captain Clark said you would have to skip a dessert for this.” Brandon knew exactly what she meant. Clark was the team leader responsible for weight distribution on the ship. Nothing goes onboard that he doesn’t know about. Everything had to be weighed so the right amount of fuel could be planned for the flight.
“I’ll need to have a little chat with the good captain later,” Brandon joked. They all took a few minutes to partake of some toaster strudel, in lieu of birthday cake, before heading off to continue with their daily routines.
From: Brandon Devlin
Subject: Missing you
Date: Aquarius 25, 0031 00:24
To: Emma Devlin
(CLT): 1 min 52.69 sec
My very dearest M,
Well, aren’t you the thoughtful loving spouse? I doubt anyone else would have ever thought to send a birthday present along on a Mars mission, let alone have it smuggled on board. It smells delicious, just like you. I know it’s your favorite scent: Obsession. I’ll put a drop on my pillow tonight and dream of you all night long. As a special ‘thank you’ I wrote a little something to tell you how I am feeling. Why don’t you go fill the tub, add a drop of perfume and take a nice long soak in a warm bath. Then, put on something soft and sexy for me to imagine and climb into bed before reading about how much I love you: