What We Search For (18 page)

“Hello!” I said politely.

“Hello there young man.”
The gentleman responded kindly.

“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 them 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.