Anne Wightman
When Colin Kidnapped Me
Colin was submitting the first draft of his doctoral dissertation, so I think it was 1989, and he asked me to save the day for a lunch date. At the appointed time (because Colin was always prompt), he picked me up at my office. He had run into Tom Sgouros somehow, so Tom joined us for a delightful Indian meal in Cambridge. After lunch, Colin was driving me back to my office, when he missed a turn. I pointed this out, and he said no he hadn't. "Yes," I said, "we were supposed to turn back there!" No, he informed me, we weren't going back to my office. I had great difficulty coping with this. Colin had taken care of everything - he'd consulted with the Editor I worked for and our assistant (in fact everyone in the office knew except me), and he'd packed an overnight bag for me. But I just couldn't leave without going back to the office to make sure a particularly important package got shipped out and to retrieve my sweater. No cell phones back in the dark ages, so he took me back, and THEN whisked me off to New Hampshire for a relaxing weekend at a bed and breakfast. He learned that I need time to adjust to surprises before I can enjoy them.