a to-do list

prompt: Write a poem or story about a person who decides to write down three goals each night, then attempts to achieve them the following day.
Does he/she decide this is a good thing to do, or does it completely drive the person bonkers?
word count: 566

***

He was hunched over his desk, brow furrowed in concentration when she slipped through the door to his study. A waft of heat hit her instantly, stinging her cheeks into a light pink flush, the source being a bright orange fire blazing in the fireplace. Katarina fanned herself with her hand and bit her bottom lip as she studied him.

“Is something wrong, Danny?” she asked, gliding from the door to where he sat.

He did not look up. “What gave me away?” he asked.

“Well, to start, you have locked yourself up in this room all evening, and second...” She sat on the arm of his chair and pointed to the fireplace.

Daniel laughed softly and wrapped an arm around her waist, gently moving his thumb in circles on her hip.

“It is a little warm in here, isn’t it?”

“A little?”

The two sat in silence for a moment before Katarina spoke again.

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand.

“Where do I begin?”

“Well, what is this you were working on?” She picked up the paper, noting the perfect script of his handwriting on the page.

“Oh that? John suggested I write out three things I want to accomplish during the day the night before to help keep me from becoming overwhelmed. This is from last night.”

“Oh,” she said, turning the paper in her hands and looking at it closer.

“Kat?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you know how to read?” he asked, his voice betraying only a bit of curiosity.

“My people do not use written words, so we do not know how to write the common tongue.”

He cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. “Would you like to learn?”

She studied the words again. “Could you teach me?”

“Of course.” He smiled at her and squeezed her closer to him.

“So what does this say?” she asked, handing him the paper.

“Well, the first thing says to meet with the council to approve the Eastern Ambassador and you saw how that went today.”

“I told you what I would do about that,” Katarina said, poking him in the chest for emphasis.

“I cannot just dismiss every member of my council that disagrees with me, Kat. That defeats the entire purpose of the council.”

“I do not like or trust any of them.”

“Me either, but I need their support right now.”

“Fine,” she answered with a sigh that suggested the opposite of her words, “What does the next thing say?”

“Meet with the Colonel to devise a withdrawal strategy.”

“I thought that went well.”

“It did. We have a solid plan in place, it is just going to be a lot of work.”

“My father always says peace is more difficult than war.”

“Your father is very wise, as is his daughter.”

Katarina smiled. “So what does the final line say?”

He set the paper on the desk and with his free hand stroked the side of her face. Slowly, he moved her mouth closer to his until his lips touched hers, gentle and soft. He pulled away just a bit, his eyes focused on hers.

“It says to spend time alone with my perfect wife and make sure she knows how much she means to me.”

Katarina smiled. “You should write things down more often.”