She watched him stand there on the balcony. "I don't know why he tortures himself like that," she thought to herself. "Why couldn't he be happy that we're on our honeymoon rather than spend all this attention on small details like the rain?"
"I'll give him another moment, then I'm stepping in." She couldn't help herself from watching the rain either as she waited on the edge of the bed. Unlike her new husband, Peter, she didn't want to stare at the rain. Sometimes Peter would get so lost in a stare he could blend right into even the blandest thing. Peter would stare at walls, the ceiling, a spot on the carpet. "Was he off in another world, or was he concocting little civilizations on those places?"

"Either way, he needs to be here with me right here right now. I can't be some thing off in the background of his life. Am I not good enough to attract his focus? I hate having to work so hard at it, but the payoff is so great. I wish I could get more of that from him. I want more of those moments where he won't shutup about what he's thinking about. I love those wonderful ramblings where he lets me in on that great imagination of his."

"Welp," she slapped her hands onto her knees getting ready to stand up, "time to get him back in the game." Her most successful method of getting through to Peter was to be subtle and sweet about it. The times when she tried to use tough love to get through only ended up in screaming matches and each of them walking off in a fit.

She walked gently behind him, hesitating for a moment, then reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. She did it as soothing as she could. The result she was looking for was something to the effect of having that last little bit of blanket pulled over you by a loved one. The small things in life can often make the biggest difference.

"Peter come back into the room," she said in a small non-threatening voice. She always hoped to break through to him on the first try, but she didn't expect it. A constant delicate prodding was what it took, like tapping on the door with your fingernail rather than pounding on it with a fist. "Let me in Peter," she pleaded on the inside.

"Peter, please come back in. You can't make it stop raining." He didn't even turn around to look at Kara, the person he is supposed to be sharing his life with. All he did was reply in a lackluster voice, "I know, but I wanted everything to be perfect."

"It's just fine," Kara said with perfectly tweezed, raised eyebrows wanting to convey that it really was. Peter still goddamn staring off, "Yeah, but it's not perfect." Kara calmly transforming her words from a bitchy I'm-going-to-rip-your-head-off tone to a compassionate plea, "And it never will be. You can't keep building up these ideas. It's not healthy for you, or for me."

She pulled her hand off of his shoulder.

One tiny little tear rolled down the side of his face. He turned around to face her. She saw his red eyes and desire. "There's no need to get so worked up. Come on now." She put her palm on his cheek and with her thumb rubbed away the trail the tear had left. "Let's go down to the lobby. I bet they have something we can do." She waited for his reluctant reply, "Ok."

It wasn't very convincing, but it would do. Kara grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door. She wanted to move him quickly so he had no time to think. Once Peter started something he would get into it, all she had to do was get him going.

She was able to get him down into the hotel lobby. When they came out of the elevator Kara's eyes went to the lovely floral patterned cushioned love seats. She was getting ready to walk over to the counter and noticed Peter looking at her. "Honey, would it be okay with you if I went and sat down?"

"Sure."
She didn't want to give him time to start thinking again so she walked quickly. "Hello sir," Kara addressed the man with shiny, short dark hair and standard hotel suit. The golden name tag with indented letters said Aaron. He looked up from the pile of papers he was going through. "And how may I help you?"

Kara gave him a quick smile and then got right down to business. She didn't want to seem rude, but time was of the essence. "Hi. I was wondering if you could tell me about anything that might be going on. My husband gets the impression that there is nothing to do just because it's raining."

"Oh. Yeah, we get a lot of couples with men that can't seem to handle that it rains here. I assure you it's mostly certainly not a setback. The rain should clear up by this evening and you can come back here for a lovely dinner and watch the sunset. In the meantime, you might suggest doing a covered buggy ride, or maybe get some of that gift shopping out of the way."

Kara's spirits lifted. She could work with that. "Thank you."
"Mam, it may also be of interest to go check out the fruit market. It's just down the street and it's under a huge tent so it's always going on."
"Great! Maybe I can make my husband a smoothie and slip some Prozac in to cheer him up. Thank you again for your help. Those are some great ideas." "Your welcome mam."
Kara felt a little weird that Aaron kept on saying mam.

She kept hearing that word in her head as she walked over to Peter and took a seat next to him. She put her hand on his knee. "Hey," she leaned forward and put her head in his field of vision, "can you come back to this side of the world?" Peter blinked and his eyes moved to the left to look Kara directly in the eyes.

Peter apologetically said, "Sorry," and meant it.
"Don't be sorry. But it's hard to imagine why you would want to wander off in your thoughts when you're in paradise. Where is there to escape to that could be better than this?" Peter's mouth opened and just as he was about to speak Kara interrupted. "Bup, don't say it. I don't want to hear about how it could be better if it wasn't raining."

Peter smiled and didn't say anything else.

Kara added, "the guy at the front desk said there's a great market down the street. He also kept calling me mam. Makes me feel old. It was kind of creepy."

Kara stopped and Peter thought for a moment, "Well, it's not like you are wearing a name tag." Kara cocked her head to the side and squinted, "I guess. But still."
Peter smiled at her again, "shall we go?"
"Yes, let's."

They held hands and walked out through the rotating door of the hotel. They stood for a moment under the canopy, looked at each other, smiled, and then bolted out into the rain. Kara screeched with a bit of delight and the fact the rain was a little cold. Peter laughed. And there they were running down the street almost to the market. Kara was happy. She was happy for herself and because Peter was happy now.