Uber Lucky

"Oh my God," she said again.

"It's just like we dreamed; living and working in England. Europe on our doorstep. Just think; The Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Amsterdam, Venice, Florence, and Madrid just a hop, skip, and a jump away."

"Oh, and Paris... the Champs-Élysées," breathed Lexie, a dreamy look coming over her face.

"And then there's the Hofbräuhaus in Munich, and the Parthenon in Rome."

"And all the famous castles and churches."

I smiled; Lexie was getting right into it. How many conversations had we had over the years about these very places? Too many to count.

"And don't forget the food." I laughed. "I think I can already taste a buttery croissant, or maybe one of those fruit flan thingies."

"Oh god, yes. Paté foie gras." Lexie was nigh on salivating as she said the words. "And they have all those fancy cooking schools."

I had to smother a laugh at that one. Lexie was not a keen cook, though she did like to watch cooking shows.

"And, just imagine, a real bullfight."

"Oh, no. That's barbaric." She looked aghast and again I had to bite back a smile.

I shrugged, "How about some of the festivals. There's that one in Spain where the whole town gets covered in tomatoes or Oktoberfest in Germany."

"Oh my God, yes."

"I have to say, there's a whole heap of British things I'm itching to try too, like their pub food. You know; bangers and mash, or a beef and Guinness pie. And I gotta say, I want to visit the Tower of London."

"Oh yes, and the Portobello Road Market, and the one at Camden. London is supposed to be so fantastic for shopping."

I smiled as if in agreement.

"When do we leave? How soon do I need to hand in my notice at work?"

"Excuse me?"

"When do we leave?" Lexie asked again.

"Oh, there's no 'we', Lexie. Just me. I'm the one who gets to live the dream."

"But I thought... You were so eager to tell me... You—"

The smile that Lexie supposedly loved spread across my face; so wide and bright it could have lit the island of Manhattan.

"April Fools, Lexie!"

EPILOGUE

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you viewed it, my pained wishes for Lexie came true. She did walk in on husbands one and two screwing other women. One she had considered a friend; the other someone the hubby worked with. Luckily, in neither case were there children involved, so no broken families. She was now on to husband #3.

And me? Yes, I did live and work in Europe for a few years. No, I didn't fall in love and marry Stella, though we remain great friends to this very day. Me, I met and married an English rose, well, she'd kill me for calling her that because she's actually Scottish.

Guess what our wedding date was? You guessed it—April Fools Day.

AFTERWORD

As I wrote the word 'AFTERWORD' my first thought was, 'I wonder if anyone will bother reading this'. I do understand the temptation to skip it, after all, the story's been read and that's why we were all here, but I do hope at least some readers will take the time.

UBER LUCKY is my submission to the APRIL FOOLS DAY CONTEST. I found it quite a challenge to write a story where the punch line, so to speak, was a given. In the hope of minimizing the loss of suspense I didn't mention its inclusion in the contest in the AUTHOR'S NOTE at the beginning.

Please take the time to vote for the writers who have taken on the APRIL FOOLS challenge. Your feedback is our only "income".