THE VACATION

[Rated-G; Saturday Night Live and beach house setting.]

I've been dating Danny for several weeks now, and things have been going great. That is until this vacation came about.

I work on the Saturday Night Live set as a gopher. Bringing the cast and crew drinks, scripts, and things like that. That's where I met Danny. I was thrilled to get a job there, because it's long been my dream to work on a TV show. I'd always wanted to get into comedic acting, but I have terrible stage fright, so this was the next best thing.

I had literally bumped into Danny on my first day of work. I came around the corner and *boom!* I almost fell backwards, but he reached out and caught me by my hips and steadied me. He laughed a bit and asked where I was going to in such a hurry. I said I was going to his dressing room with the revised script. We laughed together at the situation and he made a joke about him saving me a trip. He also asked me to stop by his dressing room after rehearsal.

I didn't think much of it. I had no idea he had any interest in me other than as a friend. So, after rehearsal, I made my way to his dressing room. I knocked, but nobody came to the door. I hadn't seen where he went to at the end of the show, but he must not have gone straight to the room. I figured he was just being nice earlier, and he'd probably forgotten about asking me to come see him. I turned and made my way back the way I'd came, when *boom!* The same exact spot, I walked into him, yet again!

I wasn't going as fast this time, so it wasn't as bad as before. After he made a few comments about how I just can't keep myself from plowing into him, he asked where I was headed. I told him I thought he'd forgotten about his invitation, and that I was just gonna go home. He said he hadn't forgotten, and that he got caught up in a conversation about a sketch, so he was running a bit late. He outstretched his arm to the hall in a manner that told me to lead the way, so I did. He walked slightly behind me and had his hand on the small of my back.

We got to the door and he opened it. I'd never been in there before, and it was a bit of a mess, to say the least. He offered me a seat and we sat and talked for a while. Everything from work to how neither of us could seem to keep a steady relationship.

Over the next few days, we spent more and more time with each other. I'd hang out in Danny's dressing room when I had a break, and about a week after we'd met, he had to go run an errand and I took it upon myself to do a good cleaning of his "office." Halfway through, I wondered if he'd be upset that I moved everything around. But luckily, when he came back, right when I was putting the last pencil in the can, he gave me a huge smile and a hug to go along with it. He said he hadn't remembered ever seeing it that clean and neat, and he loved it. Of course, I had to show him where I had put everything so he cold find it when he needed to.

Since working there, I made friends with a lot of great people. Some worked on the show and some were just guests, but they hung around a lot. John Belushi was a riot, Gilda Radner was such a sweetheart, Jane Curtain was a lot of fun. Then there was Chevy Chase and Bill Murray who had me in stitches from so much laughing. Yesterday, Chevy mentioned that he had a friend with a few beach houses in California, in a nice part of the country, that his friend owned and rents out during the tourist season. He invited us all to go there for a while since his friend wouldn't be using them then. We had some time off, so we all jumped at the chance to do some relaxing and swimming under in the California sun.

Well, we decided to go all out and rough it. We were gonna drive! At the time, the only vehicle Danny had was a motorcycle, and that wouldn't work, so John offered to take his car, but made Danny do most of the driving. John wasn't too thrilled about driving across country in the first place, but if he didn't have to drive, it wouldn't be as bad. Chevy and Bill decided to ride with them in the back seat. I rode with Gilda and Jane, who was driving her car. Her car was slightly smaller than John's, so it worked well putting the girls and boys in separate cars like that.

We had two week's vacation, and half of it would be on the road. We packed our stuff and put it in the trunks, and set out on our way. The guys were always ahead of us, but they soon lagged behind. Jane knew where she was going, so it was OK to get separated from the boys. I admit it was kinda hard having to be traveling so close to each other, but feeling so far away from Danny. I wished I coulda rode with him, but I didn't wanna get any grief from the others.

The guys started trailing off and hitting the bars every now and then, so we had a good lead. We actually got to the house without any problems and in plenty of time to get washed up and complain about the guys a bit. It was starting to get dark soon after we got there. We didn't know how far behind us the guys had gotten, but it was a few hours at least. Maybe they stopped to sleep off a buzz or something. I was tired, so I turned in early to catch some z's before the guys showed up. I couldn't wait to be able to give Danny a big hug and fall asleep together. In the morning, when I woke up, I walked out onto the large deck to check out the view. Down a little dirt road, there was the beach, and there were hills around to provide privacy along the road and near the house. It was so secluded and perfect.

Gilda and Jane already had their coffee and I had grabbed myself some from the pot before going out onto the deck. You could see the beach from there, and all the birds that were flying around the area. So quiet and peaceful.

Obviously the guys hadn't shown up yet and I asked Gilda and Jane if they thought anything could be wrong. They looked at me and said that the guys had arrived last night. I looked at them quizzically and asked what they were talking about. Gilda said they got here last night after I'd gone to sleep and they went and stayed in the house next to the one we were at. I suddenly got a little upset. I thought I'd be waking up in Danny's arms, and what's more, I thought he'd wanna do the same. After all, we'd been separated for most of the trip, except for the times we stopped to eat together, but we hadn't had any time alone yet.

The more I thought about it, the madder I got. Here I was, waiting for him to show up, thinking something happened, and he was here all along, but in another house! Plus he never even woke me to say he got here. They all got together while I was asleep, and nobody bothered to wake me up!

I asked where Danny was and Jane said the guys were gonna go build sandcastles down by the beach. I stormed off the deck and made my way down the dirt road, towards the beach. I passed Chevy and Bill who were building dirt castles on the road in an attempt to prove it was just as good as a sand castle. I demanded to know where Danny was. They didn't answer. They said John was still in bed sleeping, but they just shrugged when I asked about Danny. I kicked at their castles and kept going towards the beach. I got there and saw a large sandcastle down by the water, where the wet sand was. I knew it was Danny's and I picked up the shovel lying there and started smacking the sandcastle. Then I shoveled the sand and made sure there was nothing left of it.

For a split second before I ruined it, I felt bad, but I knew it was in the wet sand and the tide would ruin it anyway. I just wanted to show that I was mad. When I put the shovel down, I turned and saw Danny standing there. He was wearing an old pair of jeans and a button shirt that was half undone and untucked. He had his hands in his pockets and was just standing there, with no expression on his face, watching me. I yelled at him about how he showed up and didn't even have the decency to wake me. I said I was worried about him and that I guess he didn't wanna be with me since he slept in another house.

He explained to me that Gilda and Jane said I was tired and that I went to bed early, and how the guys bought some booze and if they'd stayed at the house with us, they woulda been loud. He didn't wanna wake me because I was sound asleep. They went over to the other house and had a "guy night" before passing out. And in the morning, the girls weren't up or out yet, so they all went down to the beach until the rest of us got up.

My anger went away and I felt foolish. I guess he wanted to spare me all the macho stuff and the drunkenness. Which I probably woulda been grateful for if I knew that was the plan in the first place. I looked down at the sandcastle that was no more, and I looked back at Danny and simply said, "Sorry." He told me it was OK, and he said he was sorry too and that he shoulda spent time with me last night. I said he did the right thing and that I just missed him.

I walked over to him and we hugged. We stood there watching the tide come in over the remains of the sandcastle foundation. He laughed and said I did all that demolition work for nothing. I put my head on his shoulder and he rested his head on the top of mine. The water was so beautiful and soothing.

Chevy and Bill came up behind us and laughed when they didn't see a sandcastle. They thought they'd won the little battle. Danny let them believe they had, even though his sand castle was better than either of their dirt castles. Bill ran right into the ocean and took a dive underwater. Chevy followed, and Danny asked if I was up for a swim. I agreed and we walked out, hand in hand, into the warm water. We all splashed each other a bit, and Chevy was just able to see Gilda and Jane standing out on the deck. He waved his arms for a few seconds and he caught their eye. He waved them down and they were on their way. Once they got there, along came John. He was the only one who thought to bring a towel.

Danny and I were off a bit, away from the others, who were still splashing and tossing each other into the water. We spent some time talking, whispering and kissing a bit. He assured me that the rest of the vacation, we'd be together 95% of the time. I asked what the other 5% was for and he said, "Bathroom ratio." I agreed that that was understandable.

On the way home, Danny insisted that I ride up front with him on the way back. Gilda and Jane rode with us, and John, Bill and Chevy took Jane's car. Chevy did all the driving, except when he fell asleep for a split second and almost drove into a stop sign. That's when John decided he would drive for a while.

Jane took over driving in our car, and Gilda sat up front with her, so Danny and I could sit in the back together. We fell asleep together and we also spilled a soda back there, at one point. We haven't told John yet, but I think that'll be on a need to know basis. Same with what Danny and I did with our fifteen minutes in the back-seat while the others went and got some food. Hey, what they don't know, won't hurt 'em.