On a Sunday afternoon, she would sit in her comfortable armchair reading the encyclopaedia. He didn’t know anyone else who would find it so interesting to leaf through pages of everything. He could argue that it was directionless and overwhelming, but that might be being petty. She would wear her glasses. He loved when she wore her glasses, she looked so incredibly cute with them on. He would sit across from her, pretending to read a comic strip collection or coffee table book, but he would really be watching her.

“I think it’s a good idea,” she said, taking off her glasses and looking at him.

“What is?”

“We should take a trip somewhere.”

“What made you think of that?” he asked.

“I was just reading about Spain here and some of the pictures look so beautiful. It made me think I’d like to travel with you.”

Spain was a country of romantic bullfighters. What if she met one that was very dangerous and charming? He knew he wouldn’t be able to compete against a matador. Could she withstand the temptation of something or someone so exciting? How could he defend his love against a bullfighter? The man fought bulls, it would be easy for a man like that to overtake him.

“I don’t know, is there much to do in Spain?”

“Well, it doesn’t have to be Spain. We could go anywhere really.”

He imagined helping her with her bags on the plane, making sure she was comfortable. He thought about her holding his hand if the landing wasn’t smooth and squeezing it if he was extra worried. All the wonderful things traveling would bring would be shared with him. Each of her great big smiles would turn on him. They would stand under the Eiffel tower at night as it lit up and he would give her a kiss. That kiss would forever be a part of Paris. Whenever she saw a picture or read something about France, he would be there in her mind, loving her, making her happy.

“It might be a nice idea. We should look into places we might want to go.”

She smiled and, as if rewarding him for the right answer, put her glasses back on and resumed her reading. He continued with his fake reading and watching. Sundays like this were among his favourite things. He never wanted moments like this to change or be stricken from their repertoire. Would traveling change them? He was sure it would change her, probably for the better, but still changed. What if it made her always long for somewhere else? What if she couldn’t enjoy simple things like this after seeing mountains, valleys, beaches and oceans? Would traveling steal their contentment and ruin their life?

The idea burrowed into his head and grew quickly into a worry. Would he know her? As they traveled together, who would he be traveling with? Wouldn’t she change in every new place, with every new experience? She would become a stranger to him. He wouldn’t be familiar with the girl who laid herself out on the beach because that wasn’t something she would ever do at home. They didn’t live near one. She would be more brown than he’d ever seen her before. He’d barely recognize her. He would leave his home and find himself longing for it and missing her.

He got up and went over to the arm chair and climbed behind her. He gave her a little kiss on the back of her cheek near her ear and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.

“What if we take a trip and then we forget all the things we love about home? What if we can never be satisfied with what we love so much right now?”

She turned to face him and kissed his forehead. “That could never happen, sweetie. It will only make us love our home more because even though we’ll be away in wonderful exotic locations, we will always grow tired and long for our home. No matter how wonderful it is somewhere else in the world, we will always miss our bed.”

At that moment, he knew it was safe to bring her to Spain.