I'm Gonna Fall

Spring has been unleashed, and I so want to bottle it.

There’s nothing quite like a Saturday morning drenched in sunny rays and aqua blues. A feeling that ‘today is all mine’, and yet you want the world to share it with you. An atmosphere that percolates your brain with creativity and desires to do it all. But sometimes doing nothing is the choicest desire of all, as long as you do it well.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt the fact that my mood is greatly enhanced with the knowledge that I’m on my way to my friend Shannon’s house with the promise of a full day of nothing but fun and relaxation. And she has the perfect estate for such results as her family has gifted her a large property with all the amenities one could need for such a day.

I know I’m not supposed to arrive until noon, but I just can’t wait for this day to take off. So, I’ve chosen to leave the energy-constraining limits of my apartment and make the two hour walk to her neck of the woods. What anticipation.

If I walk slow enough and take the time to bask in the aromas of the season I should arrive just about on time.

All I can think about is laying by the pool with a midday margarita in hand as some eclectic rock blares in the background. Then maybe taking a dip, hopping in the sauna, smoking a joint, playing some billiards and pigging out on all the tasty foods we want. Wow, life is good. I mean, oh so gloriously unreal.

I’ve arrived at last. Snaking my way up the cobblestone pathway to Shannon’s front door. I can’t wait. I’m going to hoist her up enthusiastically the moment she opens the door. I ring the bell.

“Jason, what’s up man?” A deep sullen voice greets me.

My neck cranes awkwardly, deflating much of the air that was keeping me afloat. Stefan, Shannon’s boyfriend, is not at all the host I expected to see.

It’s not that I hate the guy or that I’m jealous or anything. After all, Shannon and I are genuinely just good friends. But I just don’t know what she sees in the guy. He’s so brooding and cold. An energy vampire that never has anything in the slightest interesting to say.

“Hey Stefan! Isn’t it an amazing day? So good to see you.” I lied.

“Yeah.” He mumbled with the profundity of a wooden shoe.

Then bouncing in between us comes Shannon with the bubbling energy only she can infuse.

“Jason! Ah! Let’s do this! I’ve been so badly needing this after the week I’ve had. I hope you didn’t bring anything because we got it all going on here. Anything you want, you name it.”

Maybe this will be as great a day as I originally imagined. I just need to work my magic of adaptation to deal with Stefan’s chasm of life. And if I’m lucky he’ll spend most of the time lounging on the couch listening to Bloodrayne or Darkblood or whatever depressing tunes that seem to give him fulfillment.

So, at her behest, I follow Shannon into the kitchen for some snacks. Maybe some early drinks will get this party started. But another surprise awaits me. There is another girl sitting on the kitchen stool. Her face mostly covered by her light blue hair as she is engrossed in her book, I barely recognize her.

“Jason, you remember Whitney?” Shannon purrs.

“Yeah, for sure. We’ve met briefly at a few of your parties. Nice to see you, Whitney.”

“Hey, nice to see you too.” She countered with an awkward grin expanding across her face.

Well, I thought, this day is already taking some weird curves. First Shannon’s ‘inspiring’ boyfriend makes an unexpected appearance, and now a girl I barely know is giving me the once over. Okay… I need to stop doing this to myself. I’m always setting up expectations for the perfect day the way I see it and, then getting disappointed when it doesn’t go according to plan. I’m determined to enjoy myself, and I’ll make the best of it.

For the next 20 minutes the four of us munch down on snacks in the kitchen. Shannon and I still enjoy the magnetic pull and chemistry between us, laughing and teasing back and forth. Whitney finally joins in our banter once we all indulge in one of Shannon’s margaritas and the salty ice is broken, for the time being.

Then comes a moment where Stefan whispers in Shannon’s ear.

“We’ll be back in a bit.” She says with a knowing smile on her face.

Whitney and I look at each other with eyebrows raised, as we can both only imagine what they are getting up to.

So, we sit there for the next five minutes in relative silence. I make myself another drink as I struggle to think of what to say next. Not only do I hardly know her, but from what I do know we have nothing at all in common. She dresses like a “punk chick”, goes to rave clubs, and listens to trance and heavy metal music. And I’m a regular guy that just likes my hoodies, rock music and sports. But she is cute. Even as she sits there in her long black vinyl skirt, tatted arms, and pierced lip, I can’t help but find her attractive. Maybe it’s the drinks talking. Or maybe it’s that she’s different.

“What are you reading?” I say at last in what felt like an eternity of silence.

“Oh, it’s called Sophie’s World. It’s a wonderful book about a young girl and her journey learning the…”

“…history of philosophy!” I jumped in. “Yeah, I’ve read it. I love the structure how it’s all bout a stranger leaving her these anonymous notes along the way to help her learn.”

We then start diving into our love for ancient Greek philosophers, both agreeing that Plato is the ultimate teacher as he takes the best of the Socratic method and applies a new twist on it. And from there we segue into our love for psychology, a subject we discover we are both currently taking in university.

Whitney then excuses herself to go to the washroom. I quickly go to the mirror in the hallway to check my hair and return to my seat. I glance at the clock and notice that at least 45 minutes has passed since our host abandoned us.

When Whitney returns, she has a surprised face lit up as if she has some news to tell.

“So, I just walked by Shannon’s room…and I could clearly hear them having sex. Yeah, awkward.” She says as I nod in agreement.

We both sit there letting out embarrassing smirks and perhaps a blush or two.

“You want to grab another drink and head into the living room to listen to some music?” I said as we were clearly thinking the same thing as a way to break the tension.

I list my suggestions of what to listen to and she rolls her eyes and tells me I’m so predictable.

“Jason, I feel like you probably only listen to the same stuff over and over again. Here try some classic Tool.”

Reluctantly I agree as I assume they sound like every other heavy metal band. But after only 10 minutes I find myself getting sucked into the dark emotion of the rhythms.

“See! I knew you would like them.” Whitney glows as she pokes me in the side.

“Oh, you just know everything before it happens, don’t you.” I teased as I poked her back in the stomach displaying her ticklish side.

We’ve now become completely relaxed and at ease with each other. I’m not even thinking of anything romantic anymore as we are at the point that we’re getting along like buddies. When suddenly Shannon enters the room. I almost forgot we were in her house.

“Hey you two. It’s good to see you guys are having fun. I just came to get some snacks. Later!” She says as she hurries to return to her room.

Seriously? Is she really just going to spend the whole day locked in making love to her boyfriend? I’m not sure how to feel. In one way I’m pissed off as this is very rude of her and totally out of character. But another part of me doesn’t want her to return as I am having too much fun with my new friend. But wait. Was this Shannon’s plan all along? Is this a setup? I can’t believe this hadn’t occurred to me yet, but I guess it has to be, even though Shannon is known to be random and spontaneous.

Whitney and I finally address the elephant in the room by talking about what Shannon is doing and whether it is mean spirited or not, and if it is a setup. This leads to us smoking a joint and telling tales of our own past lovers and unique incidents.

“To tell the truth I’ve always been fine with being casual and having fun. It wasn’t until last summer that I got into a heavy relationship. For the first time my heart became light and then eventually thick. I guess I couldn’t deal with it.” She said as her eyes were stuck in her memory.

“You know, you can be quite poetic.” I said with a faintly seductive voice.

“Oh, thanks.” She blushed.

“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.” I recited from some deep memory.

“Huh?”

“Plato. It’s one of his famous quotes.”

“Oh, right.” She smiled with her head tilted downward.

We each then grabbed a glass of Merlot and made our way poolside as I noted the sun is going down and we’ve spent the whole day inside.

Laying down on lawn chairs side by side accompanied by lilacs in blossom and a charming lamppost, we continuously debated on whether or not to jump in the pool. But for the time being we decided we were content staring up at the kaleidoscope of colors in the sky.

“Brrrr. I just got major goosebumps from that breeze.” I said as I showed her my right forearm.

“Yeah, you know what the main reason is for that? It’s that middle inside part of your arm. It’s called the chelidon. It’s extremely sensitive to touch. See?” She said as she slowly glided her index finger up and down my arm.

“Like this?” I replied as I returned the favor with the utmost grace to my caress.

We locked eyes and our lips became one. Kissing for a minute, an hour, or the night, I can’t tell. A moment residing in the moment. Had I just learned the true emotional impact of the word bliss?

Our kisses started slow and sensual, becoming more and more passionate. We started grabbing each other’s hips as she rolled over onto my chair. An outer body experience that involved two bodies. Then as if almost at the same time we stopped, gauging the right amount of intensity.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” She whispered back as her breath trembled. “Mmm, just hold me.”

The clear night sky had now emerged and embraced us with the cosmic blanket that we so desired.

The remainder of the night, until sunrise, was spent in the comfort of each other’s arms.

For all that I had foreseen that would descend before this day had begun, I could not have seen that I was going to fall into this delicious splendor.

“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.”