this
lifetime anyway.” Barb dabbed at her eyes.
I was
glad I’d managed to amuse her so much. Now that I thought about it
a bit more, I hadn’t seen Barb and Jeremy acting particularly
intimate, not even once. Nothing more than friendly, actually.
Maybe she was a bit flirty on occasion, but that was her
personality. “I am sorry, Barb,” I apologized meekly. “The way he
behaves, it’d obvious how jealous he is, and came on the trip
together…”
“ Oh, I can understand if that’s how it looks to all of you.
‘Cause we’re traveling together and all.” She turned around and
watched the other canoes disappearing into the distance. “We’d
better catch up. Or Jeremy will be wondering what I am doing out
here with you. Jerk.” She picked up her paddle and dug viciously
into the water.
I joined
her and we set off towards the others. Once we resumed a steady
pace, Barb started talking again. “I only met Jeremy at Heathrow. I
was with my best friend, Annie. We’ve been planning this trip
forever. For absolutely years, all the time we were growing up, me
and Annie planned our big trip to North America once we finished
school.
“ The plane was like really late leaving Heathrow. We sat
around the airport for hours and hours waiting. That’s when we met
Jeremy and his pal Josh, who were on the same flight. They were
nice boys so we thought we would all travel together.”
“ Where’s Annie now?”
“ Would’ya believe it? Years we’ve been planning this trip, and
then right after we get here, Annie falls down and breaks her leg.
We were in Ottawa, visiting the Parliament buildings, a lovely tour
it was too, but then Annie ups and trips on nothing. Tumbles down
the stairs, ass over tit and bang! It’s all over.” She slapped the
water with the blade of her paddle, startling a lone Canada goose
who was, until then, oblivious of our passing. With an offended
honk, the goose scuttled across the surface of the water, wings
flapping furiously, and took to the air.
“ So I packed Annie back off to England and carried on with
Jeremy and Josh. Josh was nice and we all had great fun at first.
We went to Montreal and Quebec City and it was great; we practiced
our dreadful school French and ate at little bistros, but then out
of the blue Josh decides to go to the States to visit some cousin
and said he’d meet up with us later. Annie and I had already paid
for this canoe trip, so I mentioned to Jeremy that I was still
going, and he took Annie’s place. It really wasn’t until a day or
two before we got the bus to the lodge that he started coming over
all possessive and jealous. It’s quite a pain, you know? He’s
always watching me, and acting all controlling like. Jerk.” The
bright smile had faded long ago and a worried frown touched Barb’s
face. She pulled her hat off and scratched at her scalp. “Boy, it’s
hot. Didn’t know it got so hot in Canada. Annie was all for packing
gloves and wool hats, ‘just in case’, she said, until she read a
brochure that told us what the summer temperatures were
like.”
“ Keep drinking water,” I reminded her, unable to think of
anything less mundane to say.
“ So what do I do now, Leanne?” She lifted her arms behind her
head and re-rolled the masses of blond hair into a loose knot
before plopping the cap back on. I knew she wasn’t asking for tips
on how to keep cool.
We were
at a halt once again. I leaned over the side to fill up my water
bottle. “I don’t really know what to tell you. You don’t want
advice on handling men from me, that’s for sure.” My laugh was
tight and forced.
We
picked up our paddles and resumed the journey in
silence.
After
dinner we all snuggled back into our own comfy spot of log
clutching mugs of hot chocolate. The last remaining marshmallows
bobbed in the rich, dark drink.
With one
finger I poked my marshmallow down into the liquid and then licked
the gooey remains.
The
clouds had moved in fast and covered
lifetime anyway.” Barb dabbed at her eyes.
I was
glad I’d managed to amuse her so much. Now that I thought about it
a bit more, I hadn’t seen Barb and Jeremy acting particularly
intimate, not even once. Nothing more than friendly, actually.
Maybe she was a bit flirty on occasion, but that was her
personality. “I am sorry, Barb,” I apologized meekly. “The way he
behaves, it’d obvious how jealous he is, and came on the trip
together…”
“ Oh, I can understand if that’s how it looks to all of you.
‘Cause we’re traveling together and all.” She turned around and
watched the other canoes disappearing into the distance. “We’d
better catch up. Or Jeremy will be wondering what I am doing out
here with you. Jerk.” She picked up her paddle and dug viciously
into the water.
I joined
her and we set off towards the others. Once we resumed a steady
pace, Barb started talking again. “I only met Jeremy at Heathrow. I
was with my best friend, Annie. We’ve been planning this trip
forever. For absolutely years, all the time we were growing up, me
and Annie planned our big trip to North America once we finished
school.
“ The plane was like really late leaving Heathrow. We sat
around the airport for hours and hours waiting. That’s when we met
Jeremy and his pal Josh, who were on the same flight. They were
nice boys so we thought we would all travel together.”
“ Where’s Annie now?”
“ Would’ya believe it? Years we’ve been planning this trip, and
then right after we get here, Annie falls down and breaks her leg.
We were in Ottawa, visiting the Parliament buildings, a lovely tour
it was too, but then Annie ups and trips on nothing. Tumbles down
the stairs, ass over tit and bang! It’s all over.” She slapped the
water with the blade of her paddle, startling a lone Canada goose
who was, until then, oblivious of our passing. With an offended
honk, the goose scuttled across the surface of the water, wings
flapping furiously, and took to the air.
“ So I packed Annie back off to England and carried on with
Jeremy and Josh. Josh was nice and we all had great fun at first.
We went to Montreal and Quebec City and it was great; we practiced
our dreadful school French and ate at little bistros, but then out
of the blue Josh decides to go to the States to visit some cousin
and said he’d meet up with us later. Annie and I had already paid
for this canoe trip, so I mentioned to Jeremy that I was still
going, and he took Annie’s place. It really wasn’t until a day or
two before we got the bus to the lodge that he started coming over
all possessive and jealous. It’s quite a pain, you know? He’s
always watching me, and acting all controlling like. Jerk.” The
bright smile had faded long ago and a worried frown touched Barb’s
face. She pulled her hat off and scratched at her scalp. “Boy, it’s
hot. Didn’t know it got so hot in Canada. Annie was all for packing
gloves and wool hats, ‘just in case’, she said, until she read a
brochure that told us what the summer temperatures were
like.”
“ Keep drinking water,” I reminded her, unable to think of
anything less mundane to say.
“ So what do I do now, Leanne?” She lifted her arms behind her
head and re-rolled the masses of blond hair into a loose knot
before plopping the cap back on. I knew she wasn’t asking for tips
on how to keep cool.
We were
at a halt once again. I leaned over the side to fill up my water
bottle. “I don’t really know what to tell you. You don’t want
advice on handling men from me, that’s for sure.” My laugh was
tight and forced.
We
picked up our paddles and resumed the journey in
silence.
After
dinner we all snuggled back into our own comfy spot of log
clutching mugs of hot chocolate. The last remaining marshmallows
bobbed in the rich, dark drink.
With one
finger I poked my marshmallow down into the liquid and then licked
the gooey remains.
The
clouds had moved in fast and covered
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