Phil
“Awww, some girl stand you up, Stud?”
I turned to see Sherry, a girl I had dated last year. She was wearing the tight black dress that seemed to be the uniform at this restaurant. She leaned over the table, tossed back her red hair, and gave me a big smile.
“Oh sorry, I meant: good afternoon, Phil.”
“Oh hey, Sherry.”
“I never thought I’d see the day that Phil Davidson would get hooked. So you do have a heart.”
I hated it when shit like this happened. “Ouch. Nice to see you too.”
“Yeah, I’ve been watching you from the moment you walked in, even though you didn’t notice me. I was shocked to see you getting nervous when your date didn’t show. Must be someone really special to get a chill dude like you all lathered up.”
“Look Sherry, we had a good time together, right? But that was eons ago. I’m sure someone as beautiful as you has lots of opportunities.”
“You’re as smooth as ever. But then you were always good at pushing the right buttons.” She laughed harshly. “And I don’t mean sex either, although that was legendary.”
She looked towards the bar. “I’d better offer you a drink or something, so I don’t get in trouble. What are you having today?”
“I’m good,” I told her. I kept half an eye on the door, but tried not to let Sherry notice. It bothered Kelly when we ran into my ex-girlfriends, so I hoped Sherry would finish trying to rip me a new one and leave. This lunch date was the first real time alone I was going to have with Kelly since New Year’s Day, and I had been looking forward to it.
“So, who is she anyway?”
On cue, Kelly walked in. She looked like a drowned rat, with her hair soaked and her jacket dripping rain everywhere. And she looked upset.
“Kelly. Over here,” I called out.
Sherry turned and stared. “Really? Colour me shocked.”
Kelly rushed over. “Oh Phil, I’m so sorry that I’m late. The worst thing happened!” She took off her jacket, spraying us all with water, and then noticed Sherry. “Oh no, I’ve gotten rain all over you. And you have a nice dress on. I’m really sorry!”
Sherry smiled. “It’s okay, don’t worry. I’ll take your coat and hang it up on the wall.” She held the Gore-Tex jacket at arm’s length and finally took off.
“Are you okay? Did you have an accident or something?”
“I’m fine. But when I was driving here, I hit a raccoon! I couldn’t avoid him, he darted onto the Parkway and I heard a thud. But I didn’t kill him or anything, he went scampering back into the woods!”
“So, why are you all wet?”
“Well, I couldn’t leave without seeing if he was okay. If he was hurt, I’d have to take him to the vet. So I went into the woods and looked everywhere, but I couldn’t find him.” She sighed. “I hope he’s all right.”
I grinned, imagining Kelly trying to corral a grumpy and injured raccoon. “If he ran off, he was probably fine.”
“Yeah, he was a big one.” She held her arms out. “And there’s no dent in the bumper or anything, so I guess I didn’t hit him too hard.”
Then Sherry returned. “Look—Kelly, right?” Kelly nodded. “Come with me, I’ve wrangled a towel and a blow-dryer from the staff room, and you can get cleaned up in the woman’s washroom.” Sherry motioned toward her eyes, and then I noticed that Kelly had a bit of a raccoon look herself. I think it was still tough for Kelly to get used to wearing makeup, but I could care less. I figured she looked great with or without.
“Wow, that’s so nice of you,” Kelly said. As they left, Sherry looked back at me over her shoulder and my heart sunk. What the hell was she going to say to Kelly when they were alone?
“By the way, I’m Sherry.”
“I’m Kelly. Oh sorry, you know that.” I smiled back at the waitress. The two of us in the mirror were a huge contrast. She was beautifully dressed and perfectly groomed, her reddish hair all sleek and smooth. I looked like my cat after a bath, complete with a towel on my head. I noticed there was black under my eyes.
“Augh, what a disaster. I didn’t even want to wear mascara, but one of my teammates insisted when she heard I had a date after practice.” I rubbed away at it with a tissue until I was back to normal. I usually wore waterproof mascara, but this stuff was something Hilary put on me.
“Practice?” She plugged in the blow dryer, but I didn’t ever use one. I combed out my hair and tied it back, with Sherry watching me.
“Yeah, I play hockey.”
“Really? You don’t look like a hockey player to me.”
“I know, because I have all my teeth, right?” My top was a little damp, so I took the blow dryer after all and ran it inside my t-shirt. “Woo hoo, that feels good.”
Sherry started laughing at me, and I laughed along with her. She was really nice.
“Thanks for doing all this,” I told her. “I think you’ve gone above and beyond.”
“Not at all,” she said. “It’s been very interesting for me.”
I didn’t get what she meant, but I was all set so we packed up and left the ladies room. Phil looked a little concerned when I got back to the table.
“Everything okay in there?” he asked.
I nodded. “What could be wrong? I didn’t even drop the hair dryer in the sink and electrocute myself.”
I was starved, so we ordered lunch. Sherry brought me a nice pot of hot tea, and I was feeling much better. I had felt guilty for hitting the raccoon and being late. “Oh, I forgot to ask, how did your soccer game go?”
“Good. It was pretty shitty out there, but we eked out a win.”
“You don’t look muddy,” I said. He looked so nice, all neatly dressed in dark jeans and a navy Henley.
“I showered before I came here.”
“Phil! You showered? I thought we were meeting here after our events. I didn’t even shower; I came straight here after practice. I get to be the yucky one while you look so good.”
“You did shower,” he pointed out. “Thanks to Rocky Raccoon. And you look great.”
I scrunched up my nose. Then I remembered what I wanted to talk to him about. “Hey, I got a follow-up call from the women’s hockey coach at McGill. He saw me at that tournament in Calgary, and he wants me to play for him.”
“Wow, Kelly. That’s great. Are you thinking about it?”
“Well, kind of. I mean, I did apply to McGill right away, because he suggested I do that—to keep my options open. But I haven’t even discussed it with my parents. And it’s going to be expensive, right?”
“So, what’s the team like there?”
“They’ve been moving up the C.I.S. rankings, last season they were top three. He explained the whole long-range plan to me when I had coffee with him. Later I got a call from this girl, Donna, who plays for them. She says it’s a great team and a good situation. She also said Montreal is amazing.”
The coach had asked her to call me in case I had any questions. It was all so exciting, except they didn’t have any money or anything for me. But still it was better than U.B.C., where they didn’t even know I was alive.
“Sounds like they’re putting in a real push to get you.”
“He said he likes my effort, and he was very interested in the fact that it’s my first year in women’s hockey. I guess he thinks I have more potential, or something?”
Phil nodded. “You were always the one who listened to Jerry, at practice and during games. Sounds like switching teams was the right move.”
“I have to admit, playing with the Avalanche this year has been a great experience.” The tournament had been awesome, even if we had only made it to the semis. And I loved playing with other girls who were as into hockey as me.
“Oh boy, lunch,” I said, as our soup and sandwich combos arrived. “Thank you, Sherry.”
“You guys are tight now,” Phil observed once she left.
“She’s really nice,” I replied and he raised an eyebrow.
We ate in silence for a few minutes. Then Phil said, “Sounds like you’re pretty excited about this McGill thing. You should go for it. Why don’t you talk to your parents about it and find out if it’s even a possibility?”
I nodded. My family did not have a ton of extra money. My dad’s florist business did okay, but he had to work a lot of hours. And my mom’s pottery career wasn’t exactly a big money-maker. But he was right; I needed to ask before I got all excited about the possibility.
I watched Phil as he ate his lunch. It was crazy, but I really liked his hands. He had these long fingers, and I liked to watch him play guitar or whatever. Or even spoon soup up to his mouth. What a weirdo I was. Phil looked so handsome in his navy shirt, and suddenly I felt sad. If I went to Montreal, we would be 5000 clicks apart. Maybe it was time we got more physical. I mean, we couldn’t have sex once I was in Montreal.
“So, um, Phil,” I began. It was kind of embarrassing to talk about this.
He finished his sandwich and looked up at me. “What’s up?”
“I really appreciate the way you’ve given me time and space, you know, and everything.”
Phil half-smiled. “No problem.”
“But now….” I didn’t know how to phrase this. I couldn’t come right out and say something like, “Let’s get it on.” Or invite him to start jumping me. “Uh, well, I think I’m ready now.”
Phil, who was usually so smart, gave me a puzzled look. “For what?”
Oh man, was he going to make me spell this out? “I’m ready, for you know, you and me to… um, start. Doing stuff.”
“Stuff?” Phil asked. He wasn’t even smiling, but I was sure he was stringing me along here. Bastard.
Just then, Sherry came over. “Here’s the dessert menu, in case you’d like to order something.” She cleared away our plates. “Can I get you some more hot water for your tea, Kelly?”
“Yes, please,” I said, happy there was a question I could answer.
“Uh, I wouldn’t mind another coffee, Sherry,” Phil said. And they exchanged a look that twigged something in me. She nodded and left.
“Did you want some dessert?” Phil asked.
“No, thank you.” Then I asked, “Did you go out with Sherry?”
Phil groaned, “It was ages ago. No big deal.”
“It seems like the North Shore is littered with girls who either have dated you or who want to date you.”
“Not a biggie, as I said. Can we get back to what you were saying before?”
I shook my head. Sherry was so beautiful and poised, and now I felt crappy. “It was nothing. Look, I better get going. I have a lot of homework to do.” It was only Saturday, but I had an away game the following day, so I didn’t have a ton of time. I pulled out my wallet and tried to figure out if twenty was enough to cover my share of the bill and a tip.
Phil grabbed my wrist. “Kel, don’t be like this. So I dated a few girls before, I can’t change that. That doesn’t matter to us.”
I knew he was right and I was wrong to get upset. But it wasn’t really jealousy; it was more that everything he had done made me more self-conscious. Probably I should’ve just told him how inexperienced I felt, but somehow I figured that would make it worse. Confessing I was a clueless virgin would make me even more of a newb.
So I stalled. I could go home and figure out exactly what I needed to say. Like practicing before the big game. “Look, Phil, there’s stuff we need to talk about. But it’s not really private enough here. We can do it another time.”
Phil looked pissed. “When? We had trouble getting this lunch set up. I only ever see you at school.”
“I don’t know. Next week sometime.” I put the twenty on the table and got up, and Phil did the same.
“What are you doing?”
“Leaving—with you,” he replied, grabbing his jacket. I found my coat hanging nearby and put it on.
“But don’t you have to get the bill?”
“Why? We’re leaving enough money, more than enough.” He held my hand. “I’m not staying here, where you think I want to talk to Sherry. I want to be with you—my girlfriend.”
“We have two cars,” I pointed out, as we left the restaurant. “So unless you’re planning to tailgate me, we aren’t going anywhere together.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll stay off your tail,” he said. He slapped me on the butt, and I jumped. When we got to my car, Phil pushed me up against the door. “Is this private enough for our discussion?
“Are you kidding? It’s a parking lot. And it’s raining out here.”
He didn’t answer me. He pulled my hood up over my head, and then still holding the sides, he raised my face up and kissed me. His mouth came down on mine and his lips were gentle at first and then hungry. He sucked hard on my lips, then enveloped my whole mouth in his. The part of my brain that wasn’t short-circuiting wondered why the rain wasn’t turning into steam when it hit us, because I felt feverishly hot. Phil’s kiss was intense and dizzying, and once again I felt like the world I knew was dropping away and I was falling into a bottomless pit. He kept kissing me and when he finally stopped, he looked down at me. He didn’t smile, but there was a little teasing in his voice.
“I think this is what you were saying you’re ready for, right?”
“Um, no.” I whimpered. I was so not ready for Phil.