Busted

Last Friday, Joel and I experienced first-hand the benefit of having family living close by. My wonderful parents volunteered (volunteered!) to watch the kids overnight so Joel and I could go on a date together. It was the perfect timing, with Joel having just come off busy season, and with me ready for some quality time.

We went to Tyson's Corner, shopped a little, ate, and came back to the mall's parking garage just as a magnificent coral sunset was filling the sky. At my suggestion (eyelashes may have been batted, but that will not be confirmed here), we drove to the very top of the parking garage where we could enjoy the brilliant rays in solitude.

Now, being that we had barely seen each other over the past week, and being that we were out without the children, we were happy to take the opportunity to park.

Oh, stop looking at me like that. Our vehicle was parked. We were just sitting next to each other. Juuuust sitting. I promise!

But, try telling that to the bored cop mall security officer who drove up right next to us just as Joel and I locked eyes and I began to think about leaning in. A hundred things went through my mind as I turned to my door, heard the mechanical hum of our respective car windows receding and saw the officer lean out of his window.

"You need to move down," he said.

"B-bbut, we were just watching the sunset," I squeaked.

"I'm sorry, but we've had too many problems up here. You need to leave." He eyed me, then Joel, considering our car's placement and our intentions.

I tried my best to look innocent and upright, and averted his gaze.

Joel started the car, we righted our seats, and then we crept down from the deserted upper level. I looked in my side view mirror and saw the officer following us a large enough distance away that his car resembled a medium-sized toy. We found a reasonable garage level, parked, and watched as the officer circled around the floor. Eventually he left--but slowly, so as to ensure we were indeed getting out of the car.

We laughed and slinked into the mall, feeling like rebel teenagers, and experiencing a strange sense of sheepishness mixed with incredulity. Needless to say, we learned an important lesson:

Never try to be romantic in your car when there is the chance of a police officer stopping you.

Or, as Joel would put it:

Sentimentality is overrated.