Timing is Nothing

(Chpt 7) Collin

The happy couple, Collin and myself didn't leave the restaurant until they finally kicked us out around 1am. Mark surprised Ava shortly after everyone else left with the news that he had booked the night at the Fairmont Waterfront right downtown, somewhere she had always talked about staying. She was so excited she looked like she could have exploded. Not ready for the night to end I invited Collin over for another drink and some catch up time back at the apartment. Since we hadn't had a face to face visit in months he agreed. We walked into the empty space I called home and closed the door. Seconds later I was dancing around in the kitchen like a fool. I was jumping, flailing my arms and just going crazy.
"Can you believe it? They're getting married!" It was like I was four and I got the coolest Christmas gift ever, I just couldn’t contain myself.
"I know it's fantastic" He laughed at me, scratching his head a little awkwardly.
I stopped jumping "You knew didn't you"
"That's why I came out this weekend instead of next, yeah. He did want to  tell you Jo but we all know how you get when you're excited. Look at you right now!" He confessed and laughed again.
"I know and I don’t care that I didn't know and you did. THEY'RE GETTING MARRIED!" I started jumping and spinning all over again doing my own little version of the 'happy dance'.
"You are such a nerd." I ignored him and threw myself onto him as I'd always done.  I took a running leap and wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms tightly around his neck. This used to be a regular occurrence with us when I got excited about something. As every other time he just accepted it and spun me around while I laughed in his ear.
"Married! Married! Married!" I sang. He put me down, looked at me and smiled. He was goot 8 inches taller than I was.
"You will never change will you?"
"Nope. Never." I shook my head violently like a little girl.
"Good, you're to cute" He put a hand on my head.
"I've missed us" I said to him
"Us?” He looked puzzled.
"Us. You're always the one I get excited with. You're the only person who mess' my hair like that. You're the only person who tells me not to change. You laugh with me more than at me. I've missed you, that's all." I hugged him for the one millionth time since I saw him that night.
"That's good to know Doll, I've missed you too"
"Don't call me doll, chicken legs"
"Leave the limbs out of this"
We cracked some beer, put some tatty sweats on and flopped on the sofa. He took the icky pink on with the hole in the back that smelled like dogs and I took the dusty old green one, everyone’s favorite.
"Why do you get the comfy one? Shouldn't the guest get the comfy one?" he teased
"Who's the guest?"
"Me. I no longer live here"
"You left without saying goodbye, which means that automatically I called dibs. Want to fight about it?" He was fun to challenge.
"I said goodbye! You just turned around and said "No. You're not actually going" so then I left. You didn't want to believe me. Not my fault"
"Totally is" It was true, I had turned around but it was in jest. I didn't think that when I turned around a minute later he would be gone for good. He walked out of my life for almost 7 months before I even got a phone call from him. He said he had missed me to much to call me and that if I had wanted to call him I could have bummed the number off Mark. I was mad, but he was so hard to stay mad at.
"So which one are you taking when you move out?"
"Move out?" I was so lost in my own thoughts about what had happened when he left that I was clueless to what he was talking about now.
"Well they'll probably want to live alone after they're married. They do pay two thirds or the rent." I had never thought of this. I sat bolt up right and stared straight ahead at the wall with nothing on it.
"You never thought about that?" He asked seriously. I shook my head silently.
"No, I never thought anything would really change. Where am I going to go?" I was on the verge of tears and I looked at him. He was back in my life and now he made it sound like Ava and Mark were going out of mine.
"Aw doll" he came and sat next to me "It's not like they would ever kick you out but don’t you think they'd want to be alone?"
"I guess so"...but they loved me!
"You'll find somewhere to go" He squeezed my arm and I put my head on his shoulder. I'd missed his shoulder.
"The icky pink one"
"What?"
"I'm taking the icky pink one when I move out. It's Marks fave and he gets to keep Ava so we can all it even this way." He shook me gently.
"You're bought easy."
"No I'm not, I'm taking the juicer too" I laughed a little, still upset about the idea of moving out.
"You dont even know how to work it," my head shook as he laughed.
"I'm not so excited any more" and I confessed and started to cry.

--

Sunday morning I woke up on the sofa without a hang over but with Collin. I squinted at the stove across the room and saw that it was only 9am. My first reaction, like the morning before, was to look under the blanket and check that we were dressed. We were still in our torn sweats and t-shirts from the night before. Thank god! Twice in one weekend would of kill me. Plus I'm pretty sure God would smite me for breaking my whole promise. Collins arms were wrapped protectively around me and my head was on his chest. As I remembered the night before my eyes began to sting. I had cried myself to sleep and he had been there the whole time holding me and listening to me whine. I whined about the Nameless hunky from the party, moving out and about how no one was ever going to love me the way that Mark loved Ava. I had been a blubbering wreck of a women. I knew I shouldn't be embarrassed, he was my best friend, but I couldn't help it. I don't cry very often and when I do I'm usually alone not to mention that fact that I hadn't seen my dear friend in almost a year and a half. I wanted to get up and let Collin sleep but it was really comforting knowing that he was there. Instead I curled up a little more and went back to sleep.
I woke up to an alarmingly bright flash. Ava and Mark were standing in front of Collin and I with their digital cameras, snapping away.
"I knew you two would be cute together" teased Mark.
"f*** off" retorted Collin still groggy with sleep. We slowly stood up and headed for the kitchen. It was 1 o'clock in the afternoon! There went my Sunday.
"So how was last night?" I'm so not good changing the subject.
"It was amazing" Ava glowed as they gazed into each others eyes. It was so cute that it was sickening. I pretended to gag and Ava hit me.
"Be nice" but it's so easy to make fun of her.
"I think I better get going. I have to get some stuff ready for the house hunt" and out Collin went, he didn't even look at me. Weird.
After a little small talk with Ava I went off and had a long hot and steamy shower.
'I don't want to move out yet, I’m not ready. I'm still 13 and attached at the hip with Ava.' I was scared. 'Maybe Collin was wrong though, maybe they don’t want me gone' The thought lifted my spirits a little but it didn't last long. Collin was never wrong. He's the most logical, intelligent person that I know, more so than even Steph. They're was no disputing it, they'd  want me gone. 'I need to be subtle about this. This of all things had to be brought up delicately'
I put my wet hair up, threw on some different, non-holly sweats, and ran out the door to the grocery store. I was going to cook a lovely 'congrats' dinner and casually ask them 'what do you see in your future? where do you want to live? how many children?' crap like that.
As I walked up and down the isles of Safeway I grabbed everything that looked good. I am not a cook but a take out Queen. I knew the family that owns the local Chinese take out joint around the corner. I'm on call display so when they see my number they pick up and ask "usual?". I reply yes, and they hang up. In twenty minutes I have all the food my heart could possibly desire and whatever extra's they graciously threw in for me.
I had Pilsbury dinner rolls, spagetti sauce, cheese, some kind of funny noodle, a cake, a pie, ice cream, chocolate, apples, asparagus, walnuts and three steaks. 'Looks good enough' I thought as I headed towards the check out.I still had no idea what I was going to make with this wide genre of stuff but I would think of something scrumptious...or I would order 'the usual'.