It starts with a soft touch of a hand, a light tap of a finger and soon you will both be engulfed in an euphoria of tender and loving sensations. Sweat mixing with gentle moans as a feeling of electrifying pleasure sweeps through your bodies…

Last weekend, I spent three days with my partner, in a modern cottage up in the mountains far away from the city. The closest store was about three kilometers away but ironically, the nearest neighbor was 2 inches away from the fence of our cottage.

After watching an inspiring run of the Vagina Monologues (play by Eve Ensler), we decided to be alone together this together and so we took a two-hour drive up to the lush, green mountain towns of the south.

It was refreshing to be up there, alone with her, away from work and stress. I decided to put my mobile phone on silent and she turned hers off most of the time. Up there was no computer, no Internet, no telephone, no noisy cars and most importantly, no bossy boss. There were 2 bedrooms, a stove, a TV (with a busted antenna), a radio, our car and (thankfully) hot water for taking showers.

Being alone with my partner for three days is a real treat for me. We do not live together in the city and we only see each other after office hours or during lunch.

In the mornings, I do not wake up feeling her body or smelling her scent beside me, I only see Arnold (my stuffed toy ape) glaring at me from the top of the bed board from where he watches over me as I sleep. I do not make coffee for anyone in the morning nor do I cook and plan breakfast, I simply boil water, drop a tea bag in and that's the start of my day.

During the few weekends I've spent with her, she has boiled water for my hot chocolate, cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast, served me toasted bread with butter and jam, cooked lunch and diner, and what do I do? - I wash the dishes.

For the entire period of our vacation, we would watch TV together, drive around the mountain roads and go down to the nearby beaches.

In the evenings, we cuddle up beside each other and as it gets chilly and we huddle closer, entwined in each others' warmth as we snuggle under one blanket playing games only we understand and falling asleep in the wee hours of the morning.

For some couples who live together, these things are taken for granted and sometimes, they forget how much fun it is to wake up besides the person you love, make breakfast, then kiss her goodbye as she walks out and goes to work.

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I want to believe that when my partner and I start to live together, every morning will be as sweet as the first morning and that we'll never start a day with a shouting match or a disagreement.

I want to believe that little things like flowers and small tokens would still count as real gifts and that a little wine and pasta will always be a superb romantic dinner.

I want to believe that sex will not become a chore or a routine but a spark out of the coals inside us that ignites when we blow gently at the flames.

These are thoughts that I want to realize when we start being together and sharing a life together. A couple is made up of two different individuals from different backgrounds, with different interests and different circles of friends. I don't believe that they'll ever be the same person.

Being together is sharing what you are, the best and the worst of you and accepting the other person simply as they are as well.

I am in love with my partner and everything about her. She may not cook breakfast everyday for me, or make lunch or dinner every evening, but that doesn't mean that she'll love me less. It simply means that sometimes I'll cook and she'll do the dishes, and that's fine with me. Or when she's tired from work, I'll cook and wash and give her a back rub in the tub so that she can relax.

Loving is not always about dividing chores or duties, but sometimes it's also about giving a bit more than what we normally give to show loved ones that they are the most important part of our lives.

Love is not a wind-up mechanism or mechanical toy.

Love changes - it is molded by time and made better, it matures and it helps us grow into better people for ourselves and for the ones we love.

Outside, a glimmer of light is showing, the moon is brighter and the horizon becomes a faint bright blue color. The evening is retiring. Our bed, warm with body heat beckons. I wash my face and gargle, then walk back to the bed into the waiting arms of my partner and drift off to sleep...

Fire is a twenty-something writer-entrepreneur who's also one of the founders of INDIGO Philippines. You can reach her thru firewomyn@iname.com