Distance

I had gotten all of the details of my flight, as well as the information on the layovers and connecting flights. Robert ran with it, while I warned my family that I was bringing someone home. I only told them what they needed to know: a boy that I’d been seeing had paid for his own ticket so that we could spend some extra time together. The last thing I wanted was for my nosy little sister to know that Robert was an actor. She would surely watch his entire filmography and be ready with an opinion on every single piece before our flight came in. I hadn’t even watched all of his stuff yet, though I was slowly working my way through the things that he’d told me were worth a look.

I couldn’t sleep on the plane. Usually I was out as soon as we reached altitude, but this time was different. This time I was overcome with a combination of excitement and anxiety. What if my family didn’t like Robert? What if he didn’t like them?

Robert, on the other hand, had no problem finding rest. His eyes were closed before the plane had even taken off, leaving me to dwell on the worst-case scenario on my own. I tried to read a book, but I couldn’t get into the storyline. I surfed the in-flight radio for awhile, then gave up and simply sat and let my thoughts take over.

It seemed like an eternity later when we arrived at our layover in London, even though it was a rather short flight. I’d made this particular journey before. It felt different this time, though. We had a significant wait time before our next flight, so Robert suggested we go to his apartment and get something to eat. I was all too eager; airplane food was awful.

“You look exhausted,” he commented as he unlocked the door to his apartment and paused to let me pass by.

“I’m fine. I’ll sleep on the next flight, I promise.”

About an hour later, Robert was clearing away empty take-out containers. I washed up the few dishes we’d used and put them back in the cupboard. Reluctantly, we headed back to the airport. I was going to miss Europe, but I’d only be gone for two weeks. Our returning flight would get us home in time for New Years Eve, which we had promised to spend with Robert’s family to make up for leaving for Christmas.

After a second layover in Montreal, and nearly twenty-four hours of total time spent either stuck in an airport or on a plane, we made it to Edmonton. I had slept a lot on the last flight, but I knew that the jet lag would still catch up to me soon. It was seven hours earlier in Edmonton than it would have been in Dublin. I hated jet lag. I had enough trouble with daylight savings twice a year.

“Maggie!” The shriek pierced my eardrums as I hauled my suitcase out of the secure area. I looked up, but didn’t have time to properly shield myself before my mother hurled herself at me. I let out a small gasp, but my arms were pinned to my sides and I couldn’t return her overexcited gesture.

“Mom, I didn’t expect you to be quite this happy to see me,” I said. The entire thing seemed so unbelievably out of character for her. It seemed like something that my little sister would do, not my mother.

She released me. Her cheeks were flushed scarlet, though I didn’t know if it was from seeing me or from the cold outside. I turned, directing her attention toward the boy waiting behind me.

“This is Robert,” I introduced him. “Robert, this is my Mom. She’s not normally like this, I swear. She’s usually a normal, middle-aged woman. I think she’s got like a Freaky Friday thing going on and she’s switched bodies with my sister. When they’ve figured out whatever wholesome family moment they’re supposed to find, she’ll be herself again.”

Mom shoved me, though the bright smile that was still on her face told me that I could have said anything at all and she would have forgiven me. She stuck out a hand in greeting toward Robert, and he shook it kindly.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Robert said in his most charming voice.

“Same to you. Even though I wasn’t aware that you existed until the other day.” At that, she shot me a slightly accusing look. I shrugged, as if her words meant nothing to me. I was certain that she was going to make time to have a stern chat with me over the whole situation at some point during my visit.

As soon as we stepped outside, I heard Robert inhale sharply. I looked over to him. His eyes were alight as he looked up at the sky. It was warm for December, and the air was still with no hint of a winter wind. Snow swirled down toward us, the flakes heavy and wet. They caught the light from the nearby streetlights and lit up the night. The ground was covered, and my shoes were already wet from the fresh exposure. Now this felt like winter.

“There’s so much snow,” Robert said softly. I slipped my hand into his and pulled him gently toward the parking lot. There would be plenty of time to admire the weather later. I wanted to get home.

The car ride was surprisingly quiet. I’d expected Mom to grill me for details about anything and everything, but the exceptionally early hour seemed to have drained her of the desire to say much of anything. I knew that the rest of my family would still be sleeping when we got to the house, but for Robert and I, it felt like mid-morning. Even on a day when I slept in, I would be up at this hour.

I opened the front door nearly an hour later. The house was dark, and I fumbled along the wall until I found the light switch. I kicked off my shoes and dropped my bag. Robert imitated my actions, and Mom walked past us and into the kitchen. She turned on the coffee pot, then smiled at us and went back to bed. As I waited for the coffee to brew, I boiled some water to make some tea for Robert. Unlike me, my parents didn’t have a very wide selection of flavours.

Robert turned on the television, ensuring that the volume was low enough that it wouldn’t disturb my sleeping family. Unfortunately for him, it was still loud enough to wake someone up. I poured myself a mug of steaming coffee, and when I brought Robert his tea I heard the telltale clicking of nails on the tile floor. I smiled.

“Jax!” I whispered excitedly as I set down the mugs and my dog came around the corner. He bounded over to me, completely ignoring Robert’s presence and leaping across his lap. He pounced on me, his front paws landing on my shoulders and knocking me backward into the sofa. I could hear Robert laugh as I tried to cuddle my dog while Jax fought to lick my face.

After a moment, I pushed the dog back. As happy as I was to see him, there was only so much slobber I could handle at a time. Jax hopped down from the couch, since he wasn’t supposed to be on there anyway, and curled up on the floor at my feet. I took a moment to actually drink some of my coffee before I turned back to Robert.

“That’s Jax,” I said, as if my earlier reaction had required an explanation. “He’s my dog. He’s awesome and you will love him. And if you don’t, I’m just not sure it will work out.”

He laughed lightly. “I don’t think we’ll have a problem there.”

“Good,” I sighed. “You know, television at four in the morning really sucks. But there’s really nothing else to do, is there?”

“We could watch a movie or something, I suppose.”

“Come on, let’s go pick one from my room. I’ll give you a quick tour of the house.”

I grabbed my coffee cup and began to show Robert around. When we got to my room, which was the only door in the hallway that wasn’t closed due to people still sleeping inside, I felt suddenly nervous. I had never been ashamed of my room, but suddenly I couldn’t remember if it should be considered embarrassing or not. Did I leave something sitting out that should have been hidden away? Did I even leave it looking tidy?

I pushed my way inside, finding that my bed was perfectly made and everything looked more organized than I had ever seen it. My mom must have straightened up in preparation for my arrival. She’d never done that before, but I wasn’t about to complain. Robert browsed around the room, looking at the various photos and knick knacks that were lying around. He picked up a rubber duck from the top of my dresser. He turned back to me, his eyebrows raised in a silent question.

“I won it with some friends at a street carnival. We all picked a duck to race, and Speedy over there kicked some serious ass. What kind of movie are you up for?”

He shrugged, turning away and replacing the rubber duck. “Anything, really.”

I scanned my shelves of movies, then settled on Elf. It seemed rather fitting to watch a Christmas movie. Robert followed me back out to the living room. It felt strange to be watching a movie, wide awake, while the rest of the house hadn’t even gotten up for the day yet. Normally I was more than capable of sleeping later than everyone else. By the time my parents woke up, I had made a fresh pot of coffee. I’d drank almost the entire first pot by myself, and what had been leftover was growing cold.

“Welcome home,” my father said. He was unusually chipper for such an early hour; I’d gotten my hatred of mornings from him. He raked a hand through his close-cropped greying hair, then dusted off the imaginary dirt on his pale blue pajama bottoms. He offered his hand to Robert. “I’m afraid I don’t know anything about you at all, but you must be something special if Maggie’s asked you to come all the way home with her. I’m Peter.”

Robert got to his feet, and he towered over my short and burly father. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. I’m Robert.”

Mom, who had just walked into the room, flashed me an exhausted smile. “I can see why you’re so into him, Maggie. I would never get tired of hearing that accent.”

Robert, who rarely showed any signs of embarrassment at all, blushed.

I rolled my eyes at my mother. “Oh please. If it was just about the accent I’d be all over everyone. It’s kind of a perk to, you know, living in Ireland.”

Mom pointed an accusing finger at me. “You don’t have to rub it in, you know.”

While my parents got ready for work, Robbie and I watched the morning news. It was almost strange to hear everyone on the television speak the same way that I did. I was getting far too used to living away. When my dad reached for his car keys, a sudden thought popped into my head.

“You two still carpool, right?”

Dad let out an indignant huff of breath. “Do you really expect us to pay for two separate parking spots downtown every month? I don’t think so.”

“So can I have Mom’s keys? You know, in case we need to go out, or so that Robert can see the area.”

My parents exchanged a guarded look. I imagined that this was one of the side effects of being married for a quarter of a century: they could practically read one another’s minds. They stared at each other for a long, tense minute. There were no clues on their faces as to what they were discussing.

“Alright,” Mom gave in, sounding as if she’d lost the imagined argument. “But no joyriding. If you hadn’t taken the insurance off of your car for the year, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. And for the love of God, take your sister with you. Her winter break started two days ago and I think she’s already got cabin fever.”

“Perfect,” I grinned.

“I mean it,” she said, her voice becoming stern. “If I hear about you going off to God knows where-”

“I was thinking maybe the mall,” I cut her off. “But we might not even do that, because it’s so close to Christmas that it’ll be an absolute madhouse there. Come on, this is the first time Robbie has ever been to Edmonton. Can’t I just show him around? I’ll drive safely, I always do.”

“Fine. We’ll be home by six. We’ll pick something up for dinner, just in case you’re not home in time to take something out of the freezer. Be good,” she added, almost as a warning.

The two of them left, and I turned to Robert. “Are you okay for a few minutes if I have a shower? I feel like I need one after all of that travelling.”

He nodded. “I’ll be fine. Just as long as I get one when you’re done.”

“Come on,” I beckoned for him to follow me down the hall. “I’ll show you were the towels and everything are. You can get settled in while you’re waiting.”

I hadn’t realized just how much I’d missed home until the smallest thing set me off. I was in the bathroom, letting the shower run for a moment to warm up the water before I got in. I saw that there was an empty drawer in the wide vanity. It was my drawer. They hadn’t put anything in it since I’d cleaned it out and thrown its contents into a suitcase. There was a yellowish stain that swelled across nearly half of the bottom of the drawer, and I smiled at the memory. I’d left a bottle of acetone in there once, and the seal hadn’t held up when the bottle lay on its side. I’d had to throw out my toothbrush and the smell had lasted for days.

I pushed the thoughts away as I noticed the steam coming from behind the clear plastic shower curtain. When I emerged again, I felt like a proper human being. My hair left a trail of water droplets behind me on the carpet as I crossed the hall and entered my room. It was still early; if I’d been living in this time zone I would have likely still been sleeping. I stepped aside so that Robert could go and shower, and in his absence I found something to wear and put it on. I skipped blow-drying my hair, knowing that the noise would wake up my sister and then there would be hell to pay. When Robert came back into my bedroom, I stopped him for a moment.

“Thank you,” I said softly.

“For what?” he looked thoroughly confused.

“You spent a lot of money to come here, and it means a lot. You didn’t have to do it. So thank you.”

He smiled, and kissed me gently. “Trust me when I say I’ve done far more stupid things than this.”

I left to let him get dried off. I was starting to get hungry, and though it wasn’t even nine o’clock yet, I felt that it was too late in the day for breakfast. I opened the refrigerator and dug around, but I didn’t find anything that looked particularly appetizing.

“Hey Robbie?” I called, closing the fridge again. Robert appeared around the corner, his curls sticking damply to his forehead. He gave me an expectant look. “Do you want to go and get something to eat?”

He shrugged, and a wet patch on his grey t-shirt expanded as it contacted his skin. “Sure, I suppose. Shouldn’t we wait for your sister?”

I shook my head. “She won’t be up for another hour or two. I’ll leave her a note.” As I said it, I dug around in the junk drawer for a pen and paper. I scribbled out a message to my sister, explaining that we’d gone for breakfast and would bring her back something to eat. I stuck it to the fridge with a magnet, then grabbed the keys from their hook by the door. “Get your jacket,” I instructed Robert. “It’s going to be cold out.”

I was trying to give Robert a taste of what Canadians considered to be the best parts of their culture. I started the day by taking him to Tim Horton’s. In all honesty, I preferred Starbucks coffee. But this wasn’t about what tasted better, this was about giving him a glimpse of our greatest – and worst – stereotypes. We picked up breakfast, since it was still too early to get a regular sandwich, and drove back home. When we walked in the door, my sister was sitting on the couch watching some soap opera that I wasn’t familiar with. As the sound of the door, she looked up.

“Maggie!” she smiled widely, getting to her feet. She’d gotten her braces off, I noticed. “It’s really weird having you home.”

I surveyed her for a moment, trying to decipher if she sounded happy or disappointed that I was here. “Well in that case,” I teased lightly, “I’ll eat your breakfast by myself.”

She laughed and walked over, opening her arms for a hug. I embraced her, while Robbie carefully lifted the paper sack of food from my hands and took it to the table. When she released me, I pointed to my guest.

“Lenny, this is Robert. Robbie, this is my little sister.”

“Lenny?” his eyes flickered to me so quickly that I almost didn’t see it. “I thought your name was Helen.”

I nodded. “Yeah, we were named after our grandmothers. But you see, she doesn’t really seem like a Helen, so we gave her the nickname Lenny. Just like how I go by Maggie, even though my name is Margaret. It just doesn’t fit. One day, we’ll make kickass senior citizens though.”

Robert offered his hand to my sister, but there was something strange about the way that she was staring at him. Her eyes were narrowed, and she stretched her neck forward to get a better look at him without actually approaching him. I elbowed her sharply in the ribs, hoping to make her stop gawking in such a creepy way.

“I know you,” she whispered. She still didn’t move to shake his hand or make him feel welcome at all. She did, however, shove my elbow away and tenderly rub the spot where I’d struck her.

“Is that so?” Robert seemed truly perplexed. “I really don’t believe we’ve ever met.”

“It’s going to bug me,” she murmured, more to herself than to either of us. “You look so damn familiar.”

“Well, since nothing remotely strange and creepy has just happened to make us all feel awkward, let’s eat,” I said, leaving my sister and walking over to join Robert at the table.

We were nearly finished with our meals when suddenly Lenny gasped. “I know! You’re in that one movie, Season of the Witch! I knew you looked familiar!”

My stomach dropped. Robert, on the other hand, took her revelation in perfect stride. He had his paper coffee cup in his hand, and he tilted it toward her slightly. “Oh yeah, cheers for checking that out.”

“So that’s what you’ve been up to while I’ve been gone?” I raised my eyebrows. “Watching Nic Cage movies?” I heaved a dramatic sigh. “I think I left you at a crucial time in your development, and without a strong female in your life to look up to, you strayed into something awful.”

“It was a good movie,” she grumbled into her hashbrown patty. “And besides, when you’re hanging out with a cute boy and he picks out a movie, you can’t say no. You just can’t.”

My eyes widened and my jaw fell slack in horror. “You absolutely can say no to a boy. And you should! Jesus Christ, Lenny, what have you been doing while I’ve been gone?”

She seemed to pick up on the way I’d interpreted her words. Instead of defending herself, she glowered at me. “Don’t go getting all overprotective on me, Maggie. That wasn’t how I meant it, and you know it. Anyways, you’re not so innocent here, either. Care to explain how you knew perfectly well that your boyfriend is an actor who I’ve actually heard of and you never thought to mention it before?”

Robert, clearly feeling uncomfortable, began gathering up his used napkins and taking them into the kitchen in search of a trash can.

“I didn’t know you’d heard of him, actually. And even if I did, I might not have told you. I wouldn’t have wanted you to bring friends over to meet him or something like that. He’s on holiday too, you know. That wouldn’t be fair. And when I first met him, I didn’t even know who he was. My roommate had to show me a TV show that he used to be on. And then I almost shit my pants.”

“You could have trusted me,” Lenny shot, leaning back in her chair and folding her arms across her chest. “I’m sixteen, not six. I can keep a secret.”

“Look, even Mom and Dad don’t know yet. You do understand why I didn’t tell you, right? I couldn’t do that to him. If he gets recognized, that’s one thing, but if I blatantly tell people that he’s a famous actor back in the UK, that’s totally different. I care about him too much to use him.”

She considered what I was saying for a long moment. Finally, she sighed. “Has he at least got any famous friends that you could set me up with?”

I laughed. “None that are single.”

She grabbed her empty coffee cup and left the table, heading off to join Robert in the kitchen. “Typical,” she grumbled.