We all arrived at the W in Buckhead about the same time.  After we got checked in we changed clothes and went to the pool.  The W has a great rooftop infinity pool.  We were enjoying just chilling on a Friday afternoon.

Em, Lynn and I became acquainted with two sisters at the pool. We were enjoying chatting up with them. They were loud and funny, and probably already just a bit drunk.  They were spending the weekend in Atlanta just to “get away.”  Their mom was dying of cancer and they just needed some down time for a couple of days.

We met another woman who was there by herself. She was recently divorced. It was her ex’s weekend with the kids. She needed some “me” time.  Em, Lynn and I are colleagues preparing for a third party accreditation visit. Our brains were fried. We needed a fun distraction.

I had made the reservation and had gotten a really good deal. We were all staying in the same room ’cause it was like a slumber party. We wanted to talk and laugh late into the night.  We’d left the husbands at home.  This was definitely a girl’s weekend.

Lynn decided to go back down to the room before Em and me so she could take a shower and get ready for dinner.  We were planning to go to Twist, a restaurant Lynn’s daughters had recommended.  A few minutes after she left she called Em’s cell phone. “Get up here!” she said.  “Now! You have to come now!”

We grabbed our sunscreen, sunglasses, and room keys, stuffed them in our bags, jumped into our flip flops and headed downstairs.  When we arrived at the room Lynn was out in the hall, too scared to go in.  We opened the door. It was pitch black. It didn’t look how we had left it.

As we walked in we saw little “candles” everywhere. They were those little battery operated tea-light candles.   They were in the bathroom; they lined the pathway to the beds.   We were walking on rose petals, lots of them. In the middle of one bed was a big red heart fashioned out of rose petals.  There was a tea-light in the middle of the heart.

On the dresser was a big silver ice bucket chilling a bottle of champagne with two stemmed glasses sitting next to it.  There was a box of chocolates and an  “intimacy package” near by.  Opening the package,  Lynn found condoms and fragrant oils.

We were all in shock. Had someone gotten the wrong room? Had we? What the heck was this all about?

Suddenly it dawned on me. “Oh!!!,” I proclaimed, “That’s what they meant by the ‘spark package!'”

The ‘spark package’ was the great deal I had gotten on the room for that weekend. It even included free parking!

We laughed and laughed until we were sick. That started off what turned out to be a very, very funny weekend.  Have I mentioned before that I’m a wee bit  naive?

dmzh