Life without John seemed empty for Sandi. She missed him terribly. She thought about him every day and wished he could come back somehow.
Sandi tried to keep busy to keep her from dwelling on her sadness too much. She threw herself into working for NEMS and into her studies. Sandi was still making straight A’s in college and was inducted into the National Honor’s Society, a very prestigious club at her college for academic excellence. Sandi’s father couldn’t have been any prouder of his daughter. Sandi also finally saved up enough money to buy her first car. It was a used car, but in great condition. It was a nice car, red with grey cloth interior and it got great gas mileage. Sandi’s dad took the car to the family mechanic to get it checked out before Sandi bought it. All these things, however, didn’t mean as much to Sandi without John there to share them with her.
She hung out with Raechel and Monica. They did all they could to keep Sandi’s spirits up. Brian was also supportive.
“He’ll be back before you know it, luv,”Brian told Sandi sincerely.
“I hope so,” intoned Sandi, sadly. “It seems as if he’s been gone for a year.”
The bright spot in Sandi’s days was when she checked the mailbox and found a letter from John. His letters arrived almost daily. Some of them twenty to thirty pages long. He would have all kinds of pictures doodled all over the envelope and it would be covered with kisses and little verses of love.He wrote the sexiest letters to Sandi and he also wrote her love poems. Sandi would share these letters with Allison, though Sandi would skip over the racier parts of the letter when she read them aloud to her sister. Sandi wrote John back just as faithfully. She told him about her being inducted into the National Honors Society and about her new car. She’d let him know what she’d been up to and tell him how much she missed him and loved him.
One thing she didn’t tell John was that she had gone to see a gynecologist and was now on the pill. She wanted it to be a surprise. When John returned from Hamburg, she decided she was going to go all the way with him.
John had been gone since the end of March. It was now the first part of June.The college semester was over for Sandi. She had taken all her finals and was now officially on summer vacation. She was trying to decide what to do with her summer when a wire arrived from John:
“Hamburg is a long way, sweetheart. Please do be careful and phone me at least once to let me know you’re alright, ok? How long do you plan to stay?”
When Sandi told her dad she was going to stay for a month, he was silent a moment, then finally spoke. “This house is going to seem so empty. You away in Germany and Allison away at camp. Will Mr. Epstein allow you to be away from NEMS that long?”
“I’m sure it will be alright with him. This is a slow period for the store. Oh Daddy, I’m so excited! I can’t wait to see my Winston!” she squealed excitedly.
Sandi got in her car and drove over to NEMS to show Brian the wire and ticket. She asked Brian if he could do without her for a month, and he said yes.
“Oh, Brian,” Sandi cried ecstatically. “I’m going to see my Winston, I have missed him so much!” Sandi danced around the room and hugged Brian, she was glowing.
“This is the happiest I’ve seen you in the last couple of months. I’m happy to have the old Sandi back!” Brian said as he hugged her. Sandi chatted with Brian for a few more minutes, then she sent John a wire telling him she’d be leaving for Hamburg in the morning.
Sandi went and picked up Raechel and Monica and they went clothes shopping with Sandi. Sandi bought herself a brand-new bathing suit; she had her old one-piece suit but thought she’d be a bit more daring and go with a two-piece for her trip. She chose a lovely emerald green bathing suit that was very flattering to her hair and eye color. She bought some new shorts and some tank tops and bought a very sexy red dress which was very low cut. Monica gasped when Sandi came out of the dressing room to model it for her friends. Sandi chose this dress with John in mind. Sandi also bought a lingerie ensemble.It was a little sexy red teddy with a matching robe.
“Sandi, what do you need a teddy for?” asked Monica.
“Guess,” said Sandi, grinning.
Both girls giggled and squealed. They knew what Sandi was planning.
Sandi went home and finished packing and went to bed early. She wanted to get a good night’s sleep for her trip tomorrow.
The next morning, Sandi’s father drove her to the train station. He hugged his daughter and kissed her cheek, “Be careful, honey,” he whispered.
Sandi boarded the train and off to Hamburg she went,
getting more and more excited as she neared Hamburg.
Written by Sandi. This is original copyrighted work and
may not be reproduced without the permission of the
author. Permission may be obtained by e-mail.