What We Search For

by Stories, Natasha

  “How are you today?” I asked looking at each in turn.

  “Just fine! Thank you very much.” The lady responded with a weathered yet kind smile.

  “Good thank you.” The gentleman responded also, “Are you on holiday?” He added with a minimal tilt of his head.

  “Yes I am. I was just visiting a friend in LA and now I’m heading back to Banff in Alberta. How about you?” I replied.

  “That sounds lovely. Yes we’re going to visit some family in Calgary. We live here though. How did you like it?” She asked, as she leaned forward to look past her husband.

  “It was nice. I was actually visiting a girl-, um, friend of mine which was even nicer!” I said with a laugh.

  “Oh! That’s the spirit.” The gentleman said with a chuckle.

  “My name is James by the way. Pleasure to meet you both.” I said, extending my hand.

  “The pleasure is ours James! This is Bob my husband, and I’m Laurene.” She said, as she took hold of my hand shaking it softly. I then extended my hand to Bob who took it firmly shaking it three times.

  “Nice to meet a pleasant young man as yourself James.” Bob said, leaning towards me. “Now let’s hear a little bit more about this girl-, friend of yours.” He added as he elbowed me gently in the side with a wink. Laurene had watched the exchange and slapped Bob on the wrist gently with a playful smile.

  “Bob!” She said indignantly.

  “The man is obviously interested! Just thought I would let him talk about her!” He said gruffly, on the defensive.

  I couldn’t help but laugh at their fond interaction and instantly fell in love with the pair. They reminded me so much of two of my grandparents who had passed away in the last few years.

  “I’d be happy to tell you about her, if that would be alright Laurene?” I asked with a cheeky grin.

  “Of course dear!” She replied with her warm smile.

  “Well to start with her name is Amanda. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever met and I’m crazily in love with her.” I said, as I eyed Bob and Laurene. Both were leaning towards me giving me their full attention.

  “That’s just lovely.” Laurene said, patting Bob on the arm, “Isn’t that lovely dear?” She asked, looking up at Bob.

  “Lovely.” He said in his gruff but warm voice, and winked at me with a patient look on his face.

  “We actually met at this airport in passing one day. I was on my way to Banff for the first time and she was on her way home. Then later down the track we bumped into each other on the ski hill in Banff. She was on holiday and it was a complete coincidence.” I said, as I delved into the details of my story.

  We spoke for hours. At first of Amanda, then the progression of our relationship. They hung on to every word, until at last I came to the end of my story.

  Laurene and Bob informed me they had been married for 50 years. From there they shared the story of their marriage during which many smiles, glances, and touches on the hand or arm passed between them. They were inseparable. I have to say it was very cute.

  Our flight went without a hitch and I spent the entire time speaking with this amazing couple. It was so nice to have such a lengthy conversation face to face with people I had never met before.

  Such a simple thing, yet so rewarding. Through my travels and the last few years it seemed to be such a growing trend that people were losing touch with that way of life, but instead everything had turned digital, creating an entirely new way of communication.

  Everyone seemed to ignore their own surroundings and become a recluse. Calling it social networking was a joke. In it, we are more often than not found sharing tidbits of useless information about people’s lives or taking photos of food I could very well live without. Somewhere along the way we had lost our personal touch. It was a terrible shame.

  Walking slowly together with Bob and Laurene to the carousel, I couldn’t help but want to spend more time with them both after spending such an interesting flight together. We spoke some more of little things until it was time to part ways.

  “It was such a pleasure to talk to you James!” Laurene said, “Are you ever planning on coming back to LA?” She added.

  “I am actually. To see Amanda!” I replied with a grin.

  “Well that’s just lovely. You’ll have to pop in to visit us! Would you like to visit a couple of old ducks like us?” She asked.

  “Absolutely! That would be wonderful.” I replied happily. We traded email addresses with a promise to keep in touch in the future.

  “We wish you all the best, James. I’m sure it will all work out with Amanda if you keep working at it.” Bob said, looking over at Laurene with a smile.

  “These things have a way of falling into place!” Laurene added, looking at each other they shared a knowing smile.

  “Take care both of you, and have fun with your family! Thanks for the company. It was fantastic to meet you both.” I said.

  Waving with a big smile on my face I turned and walked towards the bus terminal happier than I had been in quite some time. Keeping firmly in my mind that to get somewhere with Amanda, I would have to work hard towards that end.

  The bus ride was much like the first time I had arrived in Banff, the mountains were a beautiful white, and the sky was a beautiful blue. Trees were covered in snow from a recent snowfall, and everything was glistening and stunning. I took it all in with a content sigh.

  Reaching for my phone I dialed Chris’s number as I drew closer and closer to Banff. He answered shortly after.

  “James!” Chris exclaimed. I could hear noise in the background.

  “Chris, mate! How are you brother?” I asked with excitement. I hadn’t spoken to Chris since I was in Australia when I updated him with my sister’s progress. I had been spending all my time with Amanda and hadn’t really thought about much else.

  “I’m great buddy! How about you? How is LA?” He asked.

  “It’s amazing. I’ll tell you all about it when I get to Banff.” I said

  “Great! When are you coming back?” He asked, as he told someone in the background to shut up.

  “Oh you know mate. Not too far off I’d imagine.” I replied with a small smile to myself.

  “Fantastic! Can’t wait to have a beer and catch up bud.” He said.

  “Absolutely! Thought I’d just check up on you. What are you up to at the moment? I can’t quite tell what’s going on in the background.” I asked.

  “Just down at our local with Brad and a couple of other lads you haven’t met yet.” He replied, letting out a laugh clearly meant for someone else.

  “Sounds good mate. I’ll leave you to it. I’ll let you know when I’m back in town.” I said, as I looked out the window at a passing road sign. That would be quite a bit sooner than Chris was anticipating. I couldn’t wait to see the boys again.

  “Okay bud, I’ll talk to you soon then. Good to hear from you!” Chris said, hanging up.

  Driving through Banff I asked the bus driver to drop me in front of the hostel I had booked for my stay. I would need to organize longer term accommodation later, but this would be fine for now. Dropping off all my luggage in the room, I made my way down to the local pub, hoping the lads were still there.

  Walking through the door, I looked around the room. It was fairly busy but I couldn’t spot the boys. Making my way around to the pool room, I heard Brad’s distinctive laugh as I rounded the corner.

  They were playing pool with two other guys who presumably were the ones Chris had mentioned. They were all having a laugh about something apparently hilarious. Both Chris and Brad had their backs to me.

  Moving up slowly behind them, I jumped forward tackling both of them from behind. Startled they both turned in surprise. Recognition dawned, and their faces lit up.

  “Hey fellas!” I said laughing, still tackling each of them.

  “You bastard!” Chris said, still surprised.

  “Mate!” Brad shouted. The two other guys with th
em were just watching the exchange as we play fought across the room.

  “Thought you weren’t due back for a while? Very sneaky!” Chris said, as we separated from our wrestling.

  “Good to see you though.” Brad added, turning. “Let me introduce you to these two handsome devils.” He said pointing, “Sam. This is James.” Brad said, as we shook hands.

  “Sam good to meet you mate.” I said, and he reciprocated.

  “And this is James number two.” Brad said with a light hearted smile pointing at the other.

  “Hey bud. Good to meet a well named gentleman such as yourself.” I said with a grin.

  “Likewise!” James said.

  It didn’t take us long to be sitting around a table with beers in hand speaking of what had happened while I was away.

  “I’m telling you mate! We’re basically professionals.” Brad was saying in reference to snowboarding.

  “Compared to me I have no doubt you are mate!” I said, smiling, “I’ve been busy doing other things, but I’ll catch up!” I added. Chris and Brad looked at each other and laughed.

  “I bet you have been doing other things…” Chris said, continuing to laugh.

  “Real mature guys.” I said trying to keep a straight face, “Let’s just say I had a great time in LA.” I continued, “But it was damn hard to leave. That’s for sure.” My voice trailing off greeted by a moment of silence.

  “Don’t let it get you down mate! You’ll head back soon enough.” Brad said, and he slapped me firmly on the back a few times.

  “Sounds to me like you should have stayed longer.” Sam pitched in, looking at each one of us in turn. All of us nodded in agreement.

  “Thing was… I started to feel bad for staying so long. She doesn’t live by herself after all.” I said, putting my best case forward for the judgment of this motley crew.

  “It’s a decent excuse I guess.” Chris said with a hint of doubt in his voice.

  “It was actually good timing for me to leave. Amanda’s house mate Rachel, at around three this morning, got a phone call saying her Dad had a heart attack. Amanda was going to take me to the airport, but ended up rushing Rachel to the hospital of course.” I said, leaning on the table.

  “Wow. That’s brutal.” James said.

  “Yeah, no good.” Sam added.

  “Yeah, that’s terrible. I can’t believe she didn't take you to the airport!” Brad joked, drawing a light laugh from all of us.

  “Dick,” I said with a smile, “You’d love Rachel.” I said, pointing at Chris.

  “Might have to introduce me.” He replied.

  “I might just do that.” I responded with a grin.

  “What about me?” Brad pleaded mockingly.

  “You’ve spent most of your life with your hand. I see no reason to break up that beautiful relationship just yet. Right?” I said with a laugh, and the others joined in.

  “She just knows what I like, you know?” Brad replied in a serious tone, drawing further laughter from the group.

  “Are you going to get some work while you’re here, or just work away at those infamous savings of yours?” Chris asked seriously.

  “Honestly man, I don’t even know where I want to be. I’ve got Amanda on my mind, and I’m not sure what to do about it.” I started, “I can’t stay in the US since I don’t have a VISA for it, but I sure as shit don’t want to go home yet either.” I said in exasperated tones.

  “Sounds to me like you’ve got yourself a little conundrum there mate.” Brad added, being his usual helpful self.

  “That’s rough.” Sam added, as he picked up on the conversation.

  “It’s never an easy thing when you’re in love.” James said softly, as if speaking from experience.

  “You’ve got that right.” I replied with a firm nod of my head.

  “It’s not the end of the world.” Chris said to me, “You’ve hopped the border once. You can always go back for another visit. Maybe get a motel room nearby if you’re so worried about outstaying your welcome.” He added.

  “That’s just it though. What would I do with myself if I was to do that? I could manage a couple of weeks, but after that?” I started, “Not really the ideal way to spend time. No. I think I know what I’ll do. We spoke about going on holiday together, so I’ll spend some more time here maybe do a few odd jobs for some extra spending money, and go up to the hill every other day.” I said, looking at each of the guys in turn.

  “That’s not a bad idea, but how long will it be that you won’t spend time with her? Long distance relationships are not very easy. I can tell you that from experience.” James said, with what sounded like concern in his voice.

  “To be honest I’ve never really tried long distance, but I think we can make it work as long as we keep in touch, and get the chance to see each other.” I said, not as strongly as I would have liked.

  “It’s doable don’t get me wrong. It’s just damn difficult. My advice is don’t let yourself get tempted by other, uh, distractions.” James explained, “I was weak willed and ended up sleeping with someone I shouldn’t have about seven months in. It worked up until then and she never knew about it but my conscious just chewed me up. I couldn’t be in the relationship anymore with that on my mind. So I had to end it. She was a great girl too. It’s just that I was an idiot.” He added with a sigh. The silence dragged out.

  “Sorry to hear that.” Chris said after a time.

  “No don’t be. It was my own stupidity.” James replied, with a shake of his head.

  “We’ve all made mistakes.” Sam added.

  “You’ve got that right.” Brad agreed.

  “Just means we won’t make them again.” Chris said with a smile, “Here’s to not making the same mistakes.” He added, raising his glass. We all yelled cheers and had a long drink together, I used the jug of beer as my own glass.

  “Anyway. At least you’ll be around for a while longer, James. We can have some fun.” Brad said, as he looked at me over the rim of his glass taking another long gulp.

  “Absolutely mate! Nothing to it, but to have fun while we can.” I replied happily.

  We spent our night in the pub drinking the majority of the night away and speaking the entire time about past relationships, and future prospects. As nights go for us guys, it was one where we shared our inner thoughts, while getting ridiculously drunk. Probably one of the only times we would ever let our guard down and have a ‘deep and meaningful’ conversation.

  Sometimes it was the best way to bond with another guy, and this was no exception. I learned all sorts about Sam and James and more about Brad and Chris. As well as sharing my own stories about my sister, and more of the tender details regarding Amanda and me.

  Everything seemed just that little bit better by the end of the night, but that was probably because I could hardly stand up due to the amount of booze we had consumed.

  Stumbling for the door we went our separate ways. Tomorrow would be a new day with new challenges, but right now I didn’t care in the slightest.

  Morning greeted me with the sun shining in my eyes, finding the only gap in the hostel room blinds. Rolling over, I groaned and fell back to sleep for what seemed like just moments.

  My phone was ringing and vibrating in my pocket. All I wanted to do was sleep. Ignoring it at first, I let it ring out, only for it to start ringing again. Whoever it was, they were persistent and extremely annoying! Reaching in my pocket I pulled it out and blearily looked at the screen. It was Amanda. Still close to drunk I sat up in my bed and answered the call.

  “Hey.” I said with all my effort.

  “Hey!” Amanda said happily, “Are you alright?” She asked after a moment.

  “Yeah I’m fine. I had a big night with the guys last night is all. Bigger than I had planned.” I said with a groan, as I sat up further starting to feel the full effect of last night’s drinking.

  “Oh no! So loud noises would be terrible for you?” She yelled through the
phone. Wincing, I held the phone away from my ear.

  “Please stop you evil woman!” I groaned, and she laughed light heartedly.

  “Sorry I had to.” She said.

  “How’s Rachel’s Dad?” I asked seriously.

  “He’s alive but he’s not in great shape, which is to be expected. Probably be in the hospital for a few more days at least.” She said seriously.

  “How about Rach? Is she holding up okay?” I added.

  “She’s much better now that she’s been able to spend time with him. At first they wouldn’t let her in until the doctors were sure he was stable.” She replied.

  “Makes sense I guess.” I said, scratching my head.

  “How was your flight anyway? I was expecting you to call me, but you must have got caught up with the guys.” She said in a dangerous tone of voice.

  “Sorry about that. They are a bad influence on me.” I said defensively.

  “Really? Or maybe it’s the other way?” She said slowly.

  “Me? Bad influence? Never…” I replied with a hint of sarcasm to which she laughed softly.

  “I’m glad you arrived safely anyway.” She said genuinely.

  “Me too. I had a great flight actually! I met an amazing elderly couple. Their names were Laurene and Bob, and we talked the whole way. It was great.” I said, still trying to clear my head.

  “That sounds nice. What did you talk about?” She asked curiously,

  “All sorts. I did talk about you a bit. Hope you don't mind?” I asked carefully.

  “Only as long as it was all good things!” She said.

  “Of course!” I said.

  “Well that’s good. Sorry I couldn’t take you to the airport in the end.” She said softly.

  “Don’t be. You did exactly what you should have done. Rachel has a good friend in you!” I exclaimed happily, “Besides, I’m a big boy. I got to the airport and on to the plane all by myself. Not even one adult held my hand. Not once!” I said with feigned pride. Amanda burst into laughter. “Wow that’s impressive!” She said still laughing, “Such a big boy. Soon you’ll be able to go to the bathroom without help, too!” She added.

  “Hey, hey! Let’s not get too carried away. One step at a time.” I said laughing.