Take Me Anywhere

Sunlight streamed from beyond Mia's curtained window and she rolled over in her bed, determined to get a few more minutes of shut-eye. She was greeted instead by Sidney's face just a few inches from hers, breathing heavily as he was caught in a deep sleep. She smiled at how childlike he looked as he laid there dormant, but managed to tear herself away.

She noticed that his arm had somehow found its way to rest on her waist, but she just lifted it gently and quietly slipped out of bed.

Mia shuffled to the kitchen, wiping the sleep from her eyes and preparing her morning coffee. Glancing at the clock that hung on the wall, she read that the time was 9:30am.

Alice was the next to wake up, emerging from her room with her brown tresses all in tangles, her shirt riding up slightly with a lazy grin plastered on her face.

"I don't even want to know what happened with you and Jordan last night," Mia muttered, waiting for the coffee to brew.

"Forget about me and Jordan," she scoffed, attempting to fix her dishevelled hair. "What happened with you and Sidney last night? You guys just disappeared into your bedroom halfway through the movie."

"I was tired, so I went to bed," Mia shrugged, taking the now full coffee pot and pouring herself a mug. She tossed in two teaspoonfuls of sugar and two small servings of cream before stirring the beverage and sipping it carefully.

"And he just happened to fall asleep next to you?"

Mia glared at Alice. "I couldn't just let him sleep on the couch. Who knows what kind of gross S&M stuff the two of you have done on it. I'm thinking of heading over to Ikea to get that thing replaced."

"Quit leading him on, Mia," Alice sighed. "You do realize that he's head-over-heels for you?"

Mia brought the mug to her lips and took in a small sip of coffee before abandoning it on the kitchen counter. "I was hoping he wouldn't be."

"But he is," she replied flatly. "And you have got to stop leading him on unless you plan on doing something about it." She peered at her sister and asked tentatively, "You're not still into Nate, are you?"

Mia bit her lip. "I'm not," she answered truthfully, "but I miss the times when we were together. You know, before I had to be away all the time."

"I know," Alice said. "But that was a long time ago. You've got to move on. I mean, you and Sid would be perfect together, but with you travelling all the time, and him being a professional athlete..."

"There's just not enough time in the day," Mia sighed. "I know. It's not like I don't like Sidney, it's just...I don't even really know him all that well. I'm sure there's so much more to him than just hockey and Reebok sponsorships."

Alice nodded. "Having one more close friend never really hurt anybody. If he respects the fact that you want to just be friends, then I say develop the friendship. There's nothing wrong with that."

Mia nodded, returning to her coffee. She exhaled slowly, thinking intently about Sidney and whatever connection they had. She had never opened up to anyone as quickly as she did to him. It was almost as if he was her missing piece, the one who could help her move on with her life and let the past be in the past.

But at the same time, she knew that if she was to get involved in any way romantically with Sidney, she would miss him all too much when they both had to travel.

"I would never date me," Mia announced, putting her coffee mug back down and propping her elbows against the counter. "It's just too much stress."

"What's too much stress?" a groggy voice called from the hallway. Sidney shuffled his way into the kitchen with a very sleepy Jordan following close behind.

"Um..." Alice stammered, "Owning a car in downtown Toronto."

"But you guys do own a car in downtown Toronto," Sidney said, confused.

"That's why it's so stressful," Alice assured. "We don't like traffic. And--" she glanced out the window, "it looks like there might be quite a bit out there today."

"Well, what do you guys want to do?" Mia asked. "You're not in Toronto for that long. Want to go do some sight-seeing?"

Sidney and Jordan shrugged. "Alright. Sounds like fun. Where should we go?" Jordan asked.

"Have you ever been to the CN Tower?" Mia suggested. "Somehow, I think you two would love the glass floor."

"Funny how I've lived in Ontario my whole life, not even that far from Toronto, and not once have I ever visited the CN Tower," Jordan remarked. "I'm down."

"Glass floor?" Sidney repeated. "Oh man..."

Alice clapped her hands. "So it's settled," she declared. "We'll go to the CN Tower today after breakfast. I want to see Sid squirm on the glass floor."

"I don't have a problem with heights," he defended. "I don't like them, but I don't have a problem with them."

"I'll be the judge of that," Alice smirked. "I also want to see Mia freak out."

"Heights are on my top ten list of fears," she admitted. "I have a hard time having my feet being far away from solid ground."

"Wusses," Jordan chuckled. "Okay. I'm going to go shower. When I get back, there'd better be food for me to eat, or there'll be hell to pay!"

He scurried off and Sidney just laughed, shaking his head. "Here, I'll help you make breakfast. Where are the eggs?"