Sort of Dating
Friendship rarely leads to love. I know it, but I’m still deluding myself.
Every day I listen to Dina’s struggles with Garth and every day I have to bite my tongue. The guy is a total jerk. He’s going out with a beautiful, caring woman and playing around behind her back.
Dale, my roommate, fills me in on all the sordid details—they’re teammates on the Varsity football team. Apparently, Garth regularly takes Dina home early so he can meet the boys downtown and ‘go wenching’.
I’m consoling Dina on the phone, while Garth’s out sowing his wild oats. I know what’s happening, but say nothing.
“You’re torturing yourself, dude.”
I look at Dale and shrug. What can I say? He’s right. Dina and I work part time in the university library and spend our coffee breaks talking books—although lately, it’s more a case of me listening to her and her conflicts with Garth.
“You need to get a life, Man.”
“Look Dale, I know you mean well, but I’m doing okay—really.”
“You’re not okay. Garth’s a pig and you’re cleaning up his accidents.”
“I like Dina—I don’t like to see her hurting. Listening to her problems is no big deal.”
“Either you’re trying to qualify for sainthood, or you’re so stuck on this babe, you can’t see straight.”
He’s right—I mean about being stuck on Dina.
I lie awake most nights looking at her face on the ceiling. I’m not channeling her or anything weird like that—it’s just when I close my eyes, or lie in the dark, it’s her face I see. I wish I didn’t, but I do—so, I’m stuck.
It’s a sunny fall day, so Dina and I sit outside on the lawn, sipping our coffee. The Sugar Maples have turned a bright orange and seen against the blue sky they’re striking—but not as spectacular as Dina with her bright blonde hair and burnt orange sweater.
I’m in love with her and I’ll settle for listening to her problems any day, if it allows me to get close to her.
“Garth wants me to go orienteering with him—I have no idea what that is.”
“It’s kind of like hiking while using a compass to follow directions,” I explain.
“You know about it—have you done this?”
I nod. “I used to go out every weekend on the Bruce Trail along the escarpment—it’s fun.”
Suddenly, out of the blue, she asks, “Can you teach me?”
“Sure. What do you have in mind?”
“The College has organized a hike on Saturday—they bus us up to the conservation area and we hike for a couple of hours and then, they bus us home again.”
This is a chance to be alone with her for a whole day.
“So, you want to go and practice this Saturday?”
“If you don’t have other plans.”
“Saturday’s fine,” I smile.
A day spent alone with Dina. It’s sort of dating, I tell myself.