I Guess I'll Never Get To Call You Mine
CHUCK
Why I’d agreed to let David stay with my best friend is beyond my mental capacity. Okay, fine, we’re not as close as before now but leaving Aline with David is like…well, let’s just say David managed to shove a mini fridge out a window when we were touring in New York just because he wanted to see what kind of noise it makes as it hit the ground. I can only hope he can manage to keep Aline in one piece.
I’ve managed to shake off the others guys on the pretext of not liking bowling. It was a lame excuse and they know it. Seb was threatening to throw eggs at me but I was saved by a phone call. Ashley wanted me to accompany her shopping and I said ‘yes’ just to get away from the guys. I had to look at Birkin bags (whatever they are) for almost two hours before I told Ashley I really need to go. I gave her my credit card and told her to buy the bag and whatever else she wanted before taking a cab to Aline’s hotel.
I wasted my phone battery playing Angry Birds (I kept losing because my mind wasn’t on kicking green pig butts today) while I waited before resolving to walk aimlessly in the lobby. Eventually, Aline did come. She looked OK, apart from the fact that she’s soaked from head to toe and dripping water. She stopped when she saw me, surprise in her eyes.
“Chuck, what are you doing here?” she asked. “Never mind that,” I said, approaching her with concern. “But why are you so wet?” “David dumped birdbath water on me.” “He what?” Okay, of all the stupid things David did, this definitely made it to the top ten. Aline smiled. “Well you know how he is,” she said, still looking amused. The tone of affection she used for David annoyed me a little for some reason and I frowned.
“Um Chuck? I really don’t want to drip water on this fabulous expensive-looking carpet and get into trouble so…” She inclined toward the elevator doors with her head, and then I realized I was blocking her way. “Oh, sorry,” I said sheepishly. “That’s fine, don’t apologize.”
I followed her to the elevator. “How’s your ankle?” I asked. “It’s fine, really. Also, you haven’t told me why you are…wait. Don’t tell me you skipped bowling with the guys just to come check on me.” “What? How did you—? Well I never liked bowling anyway!” I automatically went on defensive and crossed my arms. “They always beat me.” “True, they did. I think Seb threw eggs on you once when you ditched a bowling night.” She looked at me in the eye and I get the silent, unspoken message: You don’t have to do this. I’m fine and I can take care of myself. Well the problem is…I really didn’t mind. I like watching after my friends.
Aline and I were like siblings in our teenage years and when her family moved to Ottawa, things hadn’t really been the same. I lost her that time and when I heard about the motorbike accident…
I know, people think it’s weird for a guy and a girl to be best friends, but you know how big brothers watch out for their little sisters? I grew up with one brother and my mom’s the only immediate female relation I know. When Aline I started being friends I guess in time I grew protective of her. All the old memories came back when I saw her in David’s place with all those cuts and bruises. Okay, this sounded soppy but it’s true.
I’m a pretty big worrier. I remember the time when Pierre was late for check-in at the airport and I was so pissed because I’d sent him like a thousand reminders so I slapped him with my passport. He thought it was funny so he slapped me back. Pat quickly got his video camera rolling and christened our ensuing fight ‘The Passport Slap’. Everyone thought it was genius but at that time I just wanted to strangle Pierre.
“How did you know I was going to come?” I asked nonchalantly, avoiding her gaze. “You once took off from school during lunchtime because your dad called with news that Sparky choked on a fishbone. You walked all three miles home to make sure he’s alright.” She smiled at the memory, looking both amused and impressed. “That was kind of crazy, but it just shows that you’re too sweet for your own good.”
We got to her hotel room and I was confined to a chair in her bedroom while Aline went to the bathroom to clean up. I flipped through the hotel magazines to kill time, and suddenly found a spark of inspiration and dialed room service. By the time she limped out from the shower I had a cart of covered dishes ready for her.
“Oh wow Chuck what did you do?” She grinned, as I lifted the covers on the dishes to reveal pizza (her favorite), sushi (my favorite), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, poutine and two mugs of hot chocolate (our all-time favorites). “Do you know how much room service costs? We could’ve gotten these in one of the street shops,” she laughed. “That’s OK, you won’t be able to go out with that ankle. My treat,” I smiled, pleased that she liked it. “That’s so nice of you, thank you.” Before I knew it she had her arms wrapped around my neck in a hug, my hands automatically encircling her waist. I blushed. “No problem,” I said hastily as we pulled away. “Hey, um, look they even brought us candlesticks!” “They did!” she chuckled. “I feel weird eating pizza done up this fancy. This is so pretty. Let’s eat properly in the balcony.”
It felt good catching up with Aline. I didn’t know why I was so hesitant in the first place. I’m not the world’s most sociable person, but things were rarely awkward between Aline and I. I like to think that it’s because we have mutual understanding of a lot of things. We were both in bands, for example, and we mostly hid behind the shadows of our fellow band members (in her case her brothers) who tend to be more charismatic. I forgot how many times people thought that I was Pierre’s personal assistant.
Maybe it’s because I tend to be in the background a lot that I’m attracted to people like Ashley. She’s fun and outgoing definitely stuck up in a crowd. She blazed through life like a burning torch, and I’ve always found her ability to go into a crowd full of strangers and instinctively know all the right things to say to make them laugh admirable.
“Awesome, extra marinara sauce. I can’t believe you still remembered,” Aline said, biting into her slice with gusto. “Aren’t I supposed to know you well?” I chuckled. “I guess so,” she smiled. “Thanks for hanging out with me tonight.” “Do you honestly think I was going to leave you all on your own?” “Randy did. Okay, well, he actually called my five times today and left a lot of messages which is so unlike him,” she said in a half-joking tone. “Um, actually, I didn’t have an answer to that question. We’ve both gone on different directions for quite a while now.” I took a deep breath and said, “I hope we’ll get a chance to hang out a bit more since now you’re back in Montréal.” “Sounds good to me,” she grinned, picking up her mug of hot chocolate before clearing her throat. “I propose a toast. We’re still BFFs, huh? Gawd, that sounded cheesy, doesn’t it?” I happily obliged and clinked my mug to hers. “Always.”
I’ve managed to shake off the others guys on the pretext of not liking bowling. It was a lame excuse and they know it. Seb was threatening to throw eggs at me but I was saved by a phone call. Ashley wanted me to accompany her shopping and I said ‘yes’ just to get away from the guys. I had to look at Birkin bags (whatever they are) for almost two hours before I told Ashley I really need to go. I gave her my credit card and told her to buy the bag and whatever else she wanted before taking a cab to Aline’s hotel.
I wasted my phone battery playing Angry Birds (I kept losing because my mind wasn’t on kicking green pig butts today) while I waited before resolving to walk aimlessly in the lobby. Eventually, Aline did come. She looked OK, apart from the fact that she’s soaked from head to toe and dripping water. She stopped when she saw me, surprise in her eyes.
“Chuck, what are you doing here?” she asked. “Never mind that,” I said, approaching her with concern. “But why are you so wet?” “David dumped birdbath water on me.” “He what?” Okay, of all the stupid things David did, this definitely made it to the top ten. Aline smiled. “Well you know how he is,” she said, still looking amused. The tone of affection she used for David annoyed me a little for some reason and I frowned.
“Um Chuck? I really don’t want to drip water on this fabulous expensive-looking carpet and get into trouble so…” She inclined toward the elevator doors with her head, and then I realized I was blocking her way. “Oh, sorry,” I said sheepishly. “That’s fine, don’t apologize.”
I followed her to the elevator. “How’s your ankle?” I asked. “It’s fine, really. Also, you haven’t told me why you are…wait. Don’t tell me you skipped bowling with the guys just to come check on me.” “What? How did you—? Well I never liked bowling anyway!” I automatically went on defensive and crossed my arms. “They always beat me.” “True, they did. I think Seb threw eggs on you once when you ditched a bowling night.” She looked at me in the eye and I get the silent, unspoken message: You don’t have to do this. I’m fine and I can take care of myself. Well the problem is…I really didn’t mind. I like watching after my friends.
Aline and I were like siblings in our teenage years and when her family moved to Ottawa, things hadn’t really been the same. I lost her that time and when I heard about the motorbike accident…
I know, people think it’s weird for a guy and a girl to be best friends, but you know how big brothers watch out for their little sisters? I grew up with one brother and my mom’s the only immediate female relation I know. When Aline I started being friends I guess in time I grew protective of her. All the old memories came back when I saw her in David’s place with all those cuts and bruises. Okay, this sounded soppy but it’s true.
I’m a pretty big worrier. I remember the time when Pierre was late for check-in at the airport and I was so pissed because I’d sent him like a thousand reminders so I slapped him with my passport. He thought it was funny so he slapped me back. Pat quickly got his video camera rolling and christened our ensuing fight ‘The Passport Slap’. Everyone thought it was genius but at that time I just wanted to strangle Pierre.
“How did you know I was going to come?” I asked nonchalantly, avoiding her gaze. “You once took off from school during lunchtime because your dad called with news that Sparky choked on a fishbone. You walked all three miles home to make sure he’s alright.” She smiled at the memory, looking both amused and impressed. “That was kind of crazy, but it just shows that you’re too sweet for your own good.”
We got to her hotel room and I was confined to a chair in her bedroom while Aline went to the bathroom to clean up. I flipped through the hotel magazines to kill time, and suddenly found a spark of inspiration and dialed room service. By the time she limped out from the shower I had a cart of covered dishes ready for her.
“Oh wow Chuck what did you do?” She grinned, as I lifted the covers on the dishes to reveal pizza (her favorite), sushi (my favorite), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, poutine and two mugs of hot chocolate (our all-time favorites). “Do you know how much room service costs? We could’ve gotten these in one of the street shops,” she laughed. “That’s OK, you won’t be able to go out with that ankle. My treat,” I smiled, pleased that she liked it. “That’s so nice of you, thank you.” Before I knew it she had her arms wrapped around my neck in a hug, my hands automatically encircling her waist. I blushed. “No problem,” I said hastily as we pulled away. “Hey, um, look they even brought us candlesticks!” “They did!” she chuckled. “I feel weird eating pizza done up this fancy. This is so pretty. Let’s eat properly in the balcony.”
It felt good catching up with Aline. I didn’t know why I was so hesitant in the first place. I’m not the world’s most sociable person, but things were rarely awkward between Aline and I. I like to think that it’s because we have mutual understanding of a lot of things. We were both in bands, for example, and we mostly hid behind the shadows of our fellow band members (in her case her brothers) who tend to be more charismatic. I forgot how many times people thought that I was Pierre’s personal assistant.
Maybe it’s because I tend to be in the background a lot that I’m attracted to people like Ashley. She’s fun and outgoing definitely stuck up in a crowd. She blazed through life like a burning torch, and I’ve always found her ability to go into a crowd full of strangers and instinctively know all the right things to say to make them laugh admirable.
“Awesome, extra marinara sauce. I can’t believe you still remembered,” Aline said, biting into her slice with gusto. “Aren’t I supposed to know you well?” I chuckled. “I guess so,” she smiled. “Thanks for hanging out with me tonight.” “Do you honestly think I was going to leave you all on your own?” “Randy did. Okay, well, he actually called my five times today and left a lot of messages which is so unlike him,” she said in a half-joking tone. “Um, actually, I didn’t have an answer to that question. We’ve both gone on different directions for quite a while now.” I took a deep breath and said, “I hope we’ll get a chance to hang out a bit more since now you’re back in Montréal.” “Sounds good to me,” she grinned, picking up her mug of hot chocolate before clearing her throat. “I propose a toast. We’re still BFFs, huh? Gawd, that sounded cheesy, doesn’t it?” I happily obliged and clinked my mug to hers. “Always.”