“Hey is this Amanda?” I asked.
“Yes!” She replied.
“It’s James.” I said, trying to think of what to say.
“Oh hey James! How are you?” She asked.
“Great thanks, and you?” I replied.
“I’m good. Just finished having dinner with the girls.” She said happily.
“Sounds nice! Hey I was wondering. Would you and your friends like to come out for a drink with my friends and me?” I asked, hesitantly at first, “We’re just sitting at the pub at the moment and we thought it would be more fun if we had more people with us.” I added.
“That sounds fantastic I’ll ask the girls if they’d be interested. Give me a second.” She said, the phone rustled as she removed it from her ear.
Muffled conversation floated through, but I wasn’t quite able to hear what they were saying. A few moments passed by and she returned to the phone. “We’d love to come out! We just need to go and get changed. We’re not really dressed for anything just yet. Can I send you a text message a bit later to see where you are?” Amanda asked.
“Absolutely! Take your time. We’ll be sitting here having a few quiet beers. See you soon!” I said.
“Thanks James. Talk to you soon!” She replied, and hung up.
Removing the phone from my ear, I looked over to Chris and Brad to see they were on the edge of their seats staring directly at me, and waiting for me to say something.
“Well boys. It looks like we’ll be having some company after all! Just not straight away. The girls need to go home and get changed.” I said with a smile, “Amanda said they aren’t dressed for anything, whatever that means!” I added, as we chuckled together.
“Fair enough. Well I guess these beers won’t drink themselves.” Replied Chris as he raised his glass, “Cheers lads! To an excellent place, excellent people, and let’s hope an even better evening!” He said grinning.
“Cheers!” Brad and I replied, as we each raised our glasses in return.
A few coarse jokes. Plenty of beer, and sometime later my pocket vibrated. Reaching my hand into my pocket I removed my phone and looked down to see Amanda had sent me a text. They were ready and asking where they should meet us. Replying with our location and a quick ‘See you soon’ I returned my attention to the current conversation.
“So, I’m standing at the bar waiting for service and this English bloke comes up and stands right next to me. He reaches over and tugs on the bartenders sleeve and just starts ordering his drinks.” Brad was saying, leaning forward intently, “Let’s just say I wasn’t very impressed.” He continued with a wink, “So he gets his drinks and pays for them. All of a sudden I accidentally fall over and knock his drinks out of his hands and all over him. Pure accident of course.” Brad said, in conspiring tones.
“Of course!” Chris and I replied.
“Now there’s a wet, and pissed off Englishman staring right at me about to throw down when suddenly a stunning girl comes out of nowhere, and I’m talking an absolute bombshell.” He said, with his eyes taking on a distant hungry look, “She trips up too and pours her drink in this blokes face. Funniest thing I’ve ever seen I almost lost it right there. Only just managed to hold back.” He said, smiling at the memory, “So she looks over to me and winks then falls back into the crowd. I ended up tracking her down and let’s just say I had one of the best nights I’ve ever had, sensational, phenomenal, and amazing!” He said happily, with a satisfied smile.
Pausing for a moment expecting more I looked at Brad quizzically. “So… What about the English bloke?” I asked, as I looked over at Chris. He looked just as confused.
“Well. He looked about ready to fight, but I think he just gave up when the girl tipped her drink on him.” He replied, uninterested.
“Oh! Well shit. That’s boring.” I said.
“So what you’re saying is that whole story was about that girl.” Chris said, laughing.
“Yeah I guess it was. But seriously man she was so hot!” He replied excitedly. We all burst into laughter at that.
Chris and I just shook our heads after the laughter subsided.
“You really are an idiot.” Chris said, resigning himself to a simple insult Brad might understand. I could only nod my agreement.
Ordering another round of drinks we waited for the ladies to show up. Taking a sip of my beer, I turned to see the girls walk through the door with Amanda in the lead. If anyone was watching me at that exact moment they would have seen my mouth agape, eyes bulging, and eyebrows touching the roof with fireworks shooting from my ears.
She was beautiful. That word didn’t even begin to describe what was running through my mind. She stood tall in her heels, wearing tight dark blue jeans a white top showing through her gray jacket. Brown almost chestnut hair was flowing down to her shoulders with the perfect amount of makeup accentuating her features, and a characteristic glimmer in her eyes, making it seem like she was always laughing on the inside. Walking through the door she spotted me and waved. Returning her wave I beckoned her to join us.
Making her way over with her friends I got a chance to look at them out of their snow outfits for the first time, and both were beautiful in their own ways. Amanda introduced Jane first. She was shorter than Amanda with long blond hair and blue eyes. She was exactly what you would picture of a woman on a magazine cover. In my eyes maybe a bit too much makeup made her have that fake look about her, but still a very attractive woman.
Sally was closer to Amanda’s height which was surprising as you don't often see very many tall women. Her hair was a much darker brown and she had big brown eyes. Each of the ladies had their own attractive qualities, which I thought my friends would be sure to appreciate.
“Nice to meet you, Sally, Jane. This is Chris.” I said, pointing over to the noticeably flexing Englishman. “And this here is Brad.” I added, gesturing to my fellow Australian. He seemed to be doing his best of sitting up straight and fixing his most winning smile.
“Ladies.” Chris said. “Please join us! Let’s have a drink and get this night started!” He added. We all agreed as we stood and allowed the girls to find their seats. Amanda came over and joined me, while I let the others sort themselves out.
“You look fantastic.” I mentioned to her, as she took her seat. “Thank you! You don't look so bad yourself.” She smiled.
“Well thanks! It took me a few hours to do my hair. No doubt you can tell.” I said playfully, running my hand through my hair.
“Oh definitely! It really shows.” She said, smiling at me as she flashed her near perfect teeth. This girl was ridiculously good looking. Which made me start to wonder what she had wrong with her. Surely nobody could be this perfect!
Shaking my head I smiled to myself and asked, “So you’re staying in town for seven days was it?” Looking her in the eyes.
“Yes, that’s right. We’ll be going snowboarding a few more times and maybe looking at doing some sightseeing.” She replied.
“That sounds great, you’re going to love it!” I said happily.
“I already am!” She replied.
“It’s a special place.” I said slowly.
“Are you girls up for a big night tonight? We can show you around the place if you’re interested.” Brad said to the group.
“Maybe.” Jane replied.
“We’ll have to see how the night goes.” Added Sally, with a smile looking to each of her girlfriends.
“No need to worry about that right now. Let’s just enjoy ourselves and take it as it comes.” Chris said, thrusting his drink into the air. “Where are my manners?” He said. “Ladies. What are you drinking this fine evening?” He added. In short order the drinks arrived. “Let’s try that again!” Chris said loudly this time. He stood up and holding his drink in the middle of the group. “Cheers!” He shouted.
“Cheers!” We all replied. Laughing together, we all took a drink and our night was underway.
Laughter filled the roo
m as drinks were refilled, as the gentlemen of the group were starting to get towards the tipsy side of things. Thankfully we weren’t making fools of ourselves just yet as the girls seemed to be catching up, and whether they had any drinks of their own prior to coming out it didn’t matter at all.
Our table was the loudest in the pub as people came and went. After a while it seemed about time for us to move on especially if we were going to make a night of it. “My friends!” I said, loudly enough to cut off any other conversation. “How would we all feel about heading somewhere else and getting our dance on?” I continued as I stood up. I emphasized my point by shaking my booty in what was clearly a super cool dance move.
“I’m up for it if you girls are.” Brad added. Chris nodded his head emphatically.
Looking at each other the girls shared one of those magical moments, where women can understand each other without actually saying a word or making any noticeable expression. Amanda spoke up for them all, “I think that’s a great idea. I’d love to do some dancing if you guys know a good spot?” She asked.
“Absolutely.” I responded. “Are we ready to go now?” I continued, looking around at each person’s glasses. Most of which were nearing empty apart from Chris’s freshly poured beer. Looking up at him he understood the queue, and picking his glass up he downed it in quick succession.
“Looks like that settles it then! Let’s go.” I said standing up. I waited for everyone to sort themselves out, and headed for the door, opening and holding it for the ladies. I let each of them through and the boys followed. Leaving the pub behind us, we walked into the fresh winter air.
Thankfully, the sidewalks were not covered in snow today and we made our way to one of our favorite clubs. As we approached, we could see a massive line curling around the side of the club. “Oh no! What should we do?” Asked Jane, as she took in the length of the line. She clearly didn’t want to wait for however long it would take.
“Don't worry about that.” Chirped Brad, “We’ve got VIP passes for this place, so we should get in pretty quickly.” He continued, as he walked to stand in the opposite queue.
This line was much quicker than the other, as Brad had mentioned and within a short amount of time, we were into the club and throwing our coats into coat check. Plucking up my courage I reached over and grabbed Amanda’s hand wordlessly. She returned my grasp and we made our way down to the dance floor.
Looking over my shoulder, I couldn’t help but smile as it appeared the boys had made a choice of their own. Brad was leading Jane just behind us and Chris led Sally. It looked like we were going to have a good night after all.
Once on the dance floor, we managed to form our little group and dance together. Brad shared a look with Chris and they both smiled like idiots. I looked at them one after the other and groaned as they mimicked my ‘cool dance move’ I had attempted in the pub. The girls caught on and started laughing and finally joined in. There was nothing I could do but shake my head and join in. Soon enough the six of us were dancing in a circle throwing our arms in the air, trying to make my earlier dance look as stupid as possible, and apparently it didn’t need much help.
Our dancing circle kept going until I reached over and took Amanda’s hand. Drawing her to me, we danced together and the others followed our example. My heart was racing faster and faster as less than an arm’s length away was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
She looked up at me with laughter in her eyes and a smile on her face. I couldn’t help but return the smile, as it was more than infectious. I felt like a schoolboy with his first crush, and I honestly didn’t know what to do. So I kept dancing. Brushing up against Amanda, only to pull away as if her touch was electric.
We danced for what seemed to be hours until finally one of the girls decided it was time to go. Walking off the dance floor, we all moved together still dancing to the beat.
Collecting our coats we left the club in very high spirits and agreed we should do this again sometime soon. Parting ways, we hugged each other and wished everyone a good night.
Walking home alone I could only replay the course of the night over and over in my head. Should I have done more? Held her closer? Kissed her? No. No. Everything went smoothly, including Chris, Brad, Sally and Jane seeming to get quite friendly. I couldn’t ask for more so I tried to force it from my head and whistled my way back home.
Morning greeted me earlier than I had hoped, with my blinds doing little to shut out the light of the sun blazing through. Putting my hand over my eyes, I let out a groan as the extent of last night’s drinking made itself aware. Rolling over I reached for a glass of water strategically placed in case of such an emergency, and downed the thing in a few gulps.
A long shower and some greasy food was definitely on the menu for this morning. Everything from the night before flooded back bringing a pained smile to my face. Totally worth it. I had spent time with Amanda and it made me giddy thinking about it. Something was different this time. I had been with beautiful women before, but something was definitely different.
The day went by fairly uneventfully, until I received a text message from Amanda saying how much she enjoyed last night. It only helped my already amazing mood. I responded letting her know I had a great time. If I had tried to learn one thing from years of being an idiot, it was I shouldn’t push my luck and message her or call her constantly.
I wanted to sing and skip down the road, and the night had brought us snow. It continued now as I made my way down Banff Avenue with nothing planned. I walked aimlessly until I spotted Chris across the road, and waving him down I jogged over.
“Hey mate! How did you pull up this morning?” I asked, as I came to walk beside him.
“Horrible. I’m never drinking again.” He groaned in response.
“I know how you feel, but at least last night was fun right?” I asked.
“True. It was fun, and those ladies you introduced us to were something special.” He said, patting me on the back.
“I honestly didn’t expect you all to hit it off so well. Not that I had really met the other two before, but everything seemed to fall into place pretty damn well!” I said, wrapping my arm around his neck in a playful manner. Chris and I had lunch together and spent the remainder of the day playing pool. So it went. Another day in paradise.
Leaving the pub I stepped outside into the winter air and came face to face with Haley. She smiled, “Hi James! What are you up to?” She asked.
“Hey! Not much. Just been playing pool with a friend and thinking about heading home to be honest.” I replied, looking down the street longingly. I had nothing against Haley at all, but it was all kind of awkward. Surely our previous encounter didn’t mean anything, apart from the fact she had already stated she would be more than up for round two.
“That sounds good. I’m about to meet some girlfriends for a drink myself. We should totally catch up soon.” She said, “We had fun together…” She continued, her eyes taking on a smoky look as she touched my arm gently. Again I glanced away for a moment.
“Yeah we did.” I admitted, “Sure. We can maybe grab a coffee some time?” I added, trying to keep it casual.
“Let’s do that! I’ll see you later. Have a good night.” She said.
“You too Haley.” I replied curtly, as I turned and walked down the street.
I could admit to myself I was lonely, but not for lack of trying. I just hadn’t been able to find the girl I was looking for. While I had enjoyed my encounter with Haley, it just wasn’t what I wanted. I was a romantic deep down, and I was looking for someone special.
Now that I had found someone special, it was a frustrating experience to know she was only here on holiday. To top that off, I had another girl who I’d slept with and thought was only going to be something in passing, turn out to show more of an interest in me.
She happened to live here as well. To be honest Haley was a nice person, and I had seen nothing to the contrary, but I didn’t have
any feelings for her apart from attraction. Whereas the feelings I had for Amanda, more than outweighed that.
I wanted to scoop up Amanda and run away with her, but I hadn’t had the chance to even spend more than a day with her. I didn’t want to be seen as desperate. She was on holiday with friends, I couldn’t just take her away from them. So my mind went in circles. Was I going to lose this opportunity? Was it even an opportunity? Throwing my hands in the air I gave up and walked along the street, head down just thinking.
It was the third day since Amanda had arrived in town, and I had responded to her text message yesterday but followed up no further. Leaving a day in between was probably a good idea. Picking up my phone I found her name and wrote, ‘Hey how has your holiday been so far? I know you are probably busy with Jane and Sally, but if you get time, would you like to have a drink with me, when you’re free?’ Pressing send I knew I was looking into it too much, whatever the case, I’d obviously torture myself until I got a response.
The response came hours later giving me plenty of time to wonder. ‘That would be great, I’d love to. Are you free tonight?’ She responded. My heart skipped a beat as I read ‘tonight’ forcing myself to put down the phone a second I gathered my thoughts. I was definitely free tonight, and couldn’t wait to reply but before I did so I took a breath. There was no reason to rush things, especially something I cared about. After taking my moment, I responded with an affirmative and set the time and place.
Getting ready for my date, I changed clothes four times until I was satisfied. Did a teeth check and splashed on some cologne, and left for the bar. Arriving early, I found Amanda already waiting for me. She was sitting at the bar with a full glass of water, playing with her straw. Looking up, she saw me and I went over to join her. Both of us smiling.
“Hey.” I said, leaning over to give her a hug. “You’re looking radiant as usual!” I said, making me feel self-conscious for just a moment before she followed with a compliment of her own.
What We Search For Page 4