Walk in the Sun

I woke up with a slightly brighter outlook. Along with Jenn & Jess, I was going to spend the day in Halifax. I decided to go into the day with an open mind. I still hadn’t officially made the decision as to whether or not I was going to college in Halifax or not. However, by the time the day was done, I would get a feel of what Halifax, more importantly, college life in Halifax was all about.

Jenn and Jess couldn’t wait to get the day started. We left the house at 5 am and were deprived of Timmies until we reached Halifax. During the 5 hour drive, I slept in the back seat while the twins were discussing plans for the days.

Upon arriving in Halifax, Jenn woke me up by blaring “the Hockey Song” by Stompin’ Tom Connors to let me know we arrived at Timmies. I woke up startled and stumbled into the coffee shop. It didn’t take me long to decide what I wanted. I wasn’t much of a coffee or tea drinker. Jenn and Jess were already on their way back to the car while I was still in line. I knew they’d wait for me, so I didn’t call out to them as they walked through the doors.

Finally, when I got to the front of the line and was ready to place my order, someone barreled in front of me. I was not in the mood for this and hoped this wasn’t an everyday thing in Halifax.

“Uh….excuse me?!?” I was cranky without my caffeine and this curly haired guy was about to find that out. He turned around and gave me semi-sympathetic look.

“This will only take a minute.”

I would’ve come back with another retort, but his eyes struck me. I found myself getting lost in them. I quickly shrugged off the feeling, shocked that I allowed myself to cave so quickly.

I noticed that he had moved away for the counter, so I walked up and ordered my iced capp. I finally had a smile on my face after I took my first sip. I walked out of the coffee shop and noticed that the car was gone. Where they hell did they go? I thought to myself as I scanned the parking lot, thinking maybe they had just moved the car. When I didn’t see the car, I pulled out my phone and called Jess.

“Oh, hello there. How’s she goin’?” she was laughing.

“Jess, this isn’t funny I have no idea where I am. Just come back.” She was still laughing and I could head Jenn start to join in. I must have been on speaker phone, because I heard Jenn speak next.

“Well, why don’t you ask that boy you were talking to at the counter to show you around Halifax?” I raised my eyebrow and pulled the phone away from my ear to stare at it.

“What are you talking about? I wasn’t talking to him. He barreled in front of me when I was about to order. I didn’t say more than three words to him.”

“Well that makes no difference to us. He’s coming out of the shop now, and walking towards you.” I turned around and noticed that in fact, they were right. He was walking towards me. For a second, I forgot I had the phone to my ear. I quickly turned back around and quietly screamed at Jess.

“Where are you guys?! What about all the things you had planned? I’m supposed to experience Halifax today. How am I going to do that stranded at a Tim Hortons?”

I felt someone tap me on my shoulder. Turning around I noticed the guy from the counter. He raised an eyebrow at me.

“Say ‘Hi’ to him, stupid. Don’t just stand there and look foolish!”

I took my phone away from my ear and quickly hung it up. I looked back up to the person in front of me.

“Hello.”

He nodded. “Hi. I just wanted to apologize for cutting in front of you in line. I spilt my coffee and needed napkins to clean it up.”

I nodded and gave him a small smile. “It’s okay. I’m sorry for snapping at you. I hadn’t had my morning dose of caffeine yet. I’m a lot more sane now.”

He chuckled. “Oh, okay. So, I couldn’t help but overhearing that you were left stranded. Did you need a ride somewhere?”

I shook my head. “That’s nice of you to offer, but I don’t really know where I am.”

“Oh, well is there a certain place you’re looking for? I’d be happy to drive you there.”

I didn’t know where I was, let alone to where I was supposed to go next.

“I’m not sure. My cousins were supposed to take me around to ‘experience Halifax’ considering I might be moving her for school next fall, so I have no idea where to go next.”

He walked in front me and held out his hand.

“Well then, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Sidney, you’re tour guide to Halifax for the day.”

I tried to return his smile, and I was just about to, but then I remembered I didn’t know what to think of it. I just stood there and stared at his hand for a few seconds. Then a thought came to my mind. It would be better than staying in this parking lot until whenever the twins decide to come back for me. I shook his hand with a smile.

“Stephanie, your tourist for the day.”

He chuckled as he led me to his car. I laughed as he opened the car door like a chauffeur. “So, where will this tour begin?”

“Well, Miss…. I don’t know your last name, we’re going to start at the greatest spots in Halifax.”

I smiled and enjoyed the scenery as we drove.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sidney took me to all of his favourite spots in Halifax. He had a funny story about each place. I was intrigued by the city. The more I saw, the more I was leaning towards coming back for college. The last place Sidney brought me too was a pier. We walked to the very end and sat down.

“I must say, I don’t know what kind of day my cousins had planned, but this has been fun.” I turned to Sidney with a smile.

“It has been fun. I’m glad you agreed to let me be your tour guide. So, you never did tell me, what brings you to Halifax? Other than your cousins driving you to Timmie’s just to leave you stranded.”

I chuckled softly. “Well, my mom’s family is originally from the Maritimes, but I had never been here before. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I begged to come out here. Finally, my mom agreed to let me come out here. My cousin goes to college here in Halifax, and I’ve been thinking of coming here to go to the college, too. So, she decided she would bring me to Halifax and let me ‘experience the college side of the city’.”

“Well, there’s always something to do here. You’ll never have a boring day. That is, of course, if you’re not a boring person.”

I saw Sidney smirk and I couldn’t help but giggle.

“Yea, well my life’s been quite boring back home, but I’m always up for change.”

Sidney nodded. “Well, then Halifax is the place for you.”

I smiled. “It’s certainly beautiful, I’ll say that. After today, it might be hard to leave.”

“When do you leave?”

I looked down at my hands. “I’m here til the last week of August. My mom’s supposed to come out for her birthday. I hope she does. I’d love to spend my mom’s birthday with her out here. Well, in the ‘Chi, but you know what I mean.”

Sidney nodded. “So, your mom didn’t come with you?”

I shook my head. “No, she’s still back in Ontario. I’m staying with her cousins in the Miramichi. The twins and I drove out here at 5 am this morning.”

“You drove out here from the ‘Chi?”

I nodded. “Yep, and it’s a 5 hour drive.”

“So, do you think you’ll be coming back to Halifax again before you leave?”

I shrugged my shoulders and smirked. “I don’t know. Didn’t I get the whole tour today? I don’t think I’ll have to come back.”

Sidney raised his eyebrow. “Oh no, there’s much more to Halifax. You haven’t even experienced half of Halifax yet.”

I smiled. “Well then, I guess another visit is in order then.”

Sidney’s face broke out with a huge grin. “Hey, you wanna trade numbers? You know, just in case your cousins leave you stranded somewhere again? You could always get another Sidney-filled day in Halifax. Those happen to be the best kind, so I’ve heard.”

I threw my head back and laughed. “Well, I don’t know if I can handle another whole day with this Sidney you speak of. He seems to be a little full of himself. But I’ll give you my number, as long as you promise not to give it to him.”

He “drew” a cross over his heart and nodded.

I pulled out my cell to put Sidney’s number in and noticed the time. “I should probably call Jess and see where they are. We should be heading back soon.”

I wasn’t entirely sure, but I thought I saw Sidney’s face fall slightly.

“Oh….okay.”

I stood up and called Jess. I let the phone ring about 20 times and she didn’t answer. I then phoned Jenn. No answer from her, either. I was trying not to panic frantically in front of Sidney, but it was getting a little hard to hold it in. I didn’t notice he came up beside me. He could probably sense my frustration.

“Troubles?”

I nodded. “Slightly. Neither one of them are answering their cellphones. I’ll try texting before phoning their house phone.”

When time came to phone Carmel and Gary’s, Jess answered. I was beyond pissed at this point. I didn’t care that Sidney was right beside me.

“Jess! What the hell are you doing back home?! You do realize I’m still in Halifax, right? How the hell am I supposed to get back there?”

“Hey, don’t freak out at me. You must have been asleep when we said that we were heading back here at 3. It’s now 6. You were having a little too much fun with pretty boy to pay attention to the time. If you ask me, it’s a good thing.” I wanted to scream bloody murder. I hated being in strange places at night. It gave me the creeps.

“I was having fun, yes, but you or Jenn could’ve text me to let me know you were going to head back. Now what am I supposed to do?” Sidney tapped me on the shoulder, much like how he did in the Tim Horton’s parking lot. I turned to face him, told Jess to hang on and moved the phone away from my ear.

“I could take you back now.”

I shook my head. “No, I can’t ask you to do that. It’s a 5 hour drive there. That means we’d get there around 11. Then you have to drive back here. You wouldn’t be able to get to sleep til around 5 in the morning.”

Sidney shrugged his shoulders, then Jess began screaming into the phone.

“Well, I’m not driving out there to come get you!”

Sidney chuckled at Jess’ sudden outburst.

“Well you could always spend the night at my place, and I’ll take you back in the morning.” I raised my eyebrow at him. “I realize that sounds a little forward, but I just mean that since you don’t want me to drive you tonight, your cousin won’t come get you, and I don’t want to leave you in the streets all night, it seems like the only other option we have.”

I nodded and smiled a small smile. I brought the phone back up to my ear. Before I could tell Jess my plan, Sidney grabbed my phone and hung it up. My jaw dropped.

“Hey! What was that for?”

He smirked. “Since we enjoyed the day without interruptions, we’re going to do the same tonight.”

For a few seconds, I felt a little scared by his words but I quickly shrugged it off.

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

Sidney put his arm around my shoulder. “So tell me, miss…hang on, I still don’t know your last name!”

I laughed softly. “Taylor. The last name’s Taylor.”

He cleared his throat. “Okay. So tell me, Miss Taylor, are you ready to experience the night life of Halifax, Nova Scotia?”

“And by night life you mean….?”

“Why movies, popcorn and beer, of course.”

I smiled, I wasn’t really up for clubbing or going to a bar. “Take away the beer, you got a deal.”

…how am I going to leave this tomorrow?