Something I Need

As I boarded the bus that was headed downtown, I grew even more nervous about meeting Brendan. What if it was awkward? What if I was boring? Had he just asked to hang out out of strict politeness or fondness of childhood memories?

The bus turned down the next street, and we were downtown. The driver pulled to a stop just beside the drugstore, and I got off as Google had instructed. I thanked the driver and pulled my purse up higher on my shoulder as I stepped onto the sidewalk, heading past the drugstore and the bakery. My mind continued racing with questions, but I tried to shove them aside as I admired the architecture and culture of downtown Montreal, following my map instructions on my phone.

It wasn't snowing now, but there had been enough snow in recent days for it to be littering the ground. It was fairly cold, and I pulled my scarf up to bury my face in the wool. I trudged past a few clothing stores set in old stone buildings, before I saw the Poisson Bleu to my left on the corner of the next street.

I spotted Brendan right away, as soon as I pushed through the doors. He was looking down at the menu, and I took in the sight of him again. I noted that I liked his hair a bit longer. It had a slight curl to it; a few curls fell across his forehead, making him look almost a bit younger, but the width of his shoulders and the obvious strength in his arms said otherwise. I could not believe how attractive I found him. Had it always been that way?

He looked up then, his eyes finding mine and a grin spreading across his face. He nodded in greeting, and I headed over, taking off my jacket and hanging it up on the peg attached to the side of the booth. I slid in across from him, and he smiled at me.

"Hey."

I wrinkled my nose at him before laughing and replying, "Hey."

"What?"

"This is just... Weird." I shrugged, but a smile was still on my face.

Brendan smirked. "Good weird or bad weird?"

I pretended to debate, before nodding and answering, "Good weird."

He laughed before handing me a menu. After the waitress came to take our order, Brendan turned to me.

"Does this place remind you of anything?"

I furrowed my eyebrows at him, before turning to glance around me. Blue walls, white tables. A basic seafood restaurant, with fish decals everywhere. I shrugged, turning back to him.

"Do you remember O'Malley's?" Brendan asked. "Our families used to go there all the time for dinner."

A smile had spread across my face without even realizing it, and I nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah!" I looked around again, taking note of the blue wall opposite me that was decorated somewhat childishly with bubbles and smiling sea creatures. It did bear a slight resemblance to the restaurant back in Vancouver, now that I thought about it. I hadn't been there in ages. "How'd you stumble across this?" The smile wouldn't leave my face.

"Prusty loves seafood," Brendan explained. "He brought Chuck and I here one day. Couldn't believe how much it reminds me of home."

I sat back against the seat, shaking my head. "What are the odds?"

Brendan laughed and nodded. "The same as the odds of the two of us ending up all the way out here, I guess." He grinned, and my stomach did that little flip thing again. I laughed with him, and shrugged. There was silence, before he spoke up again. "How is school, though? Hard?"

I shrugged. "Not easy, but I'm managing. Did pretty well on my exams last semester."

"That's awesome."

"Yeah. How about you? Tell me all about being a 'famous hockey player'," I teased.

"I'm not famous," he protested as the waitress arrived with our food. "No one even knows who I am." He paused. He appeared to be thinking, and I waited, taking a sip of my drink. "I like playing, though. It's what I dreamed of. Would be nice to know if I'm a solid member, but I know I have to wait it out."

I nodded. "They haven't given you any indication?" Brendan shook his head, and I looked at him sympathetically. "I'm sorry. Waiting sucks."

"It's okay. I've made great new friends."

"Yeah, Alex seemed nice," I commented.

Brendan laughed. "He's a bit of a tool. Nah, he's great. Good for a laugh. He's my roommate."

The conversation continued lightly, and all of my worries slowly faded to the back of my mind. I grew less and less self conscious as the minutes passed, and found myself relaxing against the seat.

"Yeah, my roommate's great. We get along really well; we balance each other out," I laughed. "And I have a few friends from last semester that I hang around with sometimes."

"You still friends with Abby?"

I was taken aback by his question. He had remembered my best friend's name? He had only ever met her once or twice, but I had mentioned her many times. I felt a small prick of jealousy, but pushed it down.

"Yeah, she called me this morning actually." We talked about you. "She's great. We don't talk as much as I'd like, but I guess that's to be expected since I moved here."

Brendan nodded, finishing off the last of his fries. "Yeah, I keep in touch with some of the guys from back home, but it's hard, like you said."

I shrugged, opting to change the subject and ask him about his family. The conversation continued for a while, before Brendan called over the waitress. I was disappointed, but knew we both had to get back. The waitress asked Brendan something in French that sounded like, "Am I splitting the bill?" and when Brendan shook his head, I began to protest. He held up a hand.

"Hey, it's cool. I got this one." I rolled my eyes, and he grinned. "Maybe I'll let you get the next one."

We headed out into the frigid air, and Brendan shoved his hands in his pockets as we stopped just outside the door.

"Where you headed?" His breath came out in little puffs of cold air.

"School," I answered with a sigh. "Meeting a girl tonight to talk about a project."

He nodded, glancing around. There was an awkward pause, and I was about to let out an awkward goodbye when he spoke up. "Need a ride?"