Chapter 11

A few days had gone by and I hadn’t heard a word from Sidney. I started to worry because it had been months since we’d gone longer than a day without talking. Even so I knew that he probably needed some time to deal with the loss so I didn’t want to call him.

I’d thought of having one last team party over at my place before the guys all headed out of town and the girls all agreed that it would be a good idea. I got started thinking up the food I could make and what day would be best for it. I just hoped that I’d hear from Sidney before he left town.

“Have you heard anything from Sidney yet?” Nancy asked walking into my office during my lunch break. I shook my head.

“Nothing. I’m sure he’s just upset and needs some time to deal with everything,” I told her.

“Honey, what he needs is you,” she stated. I’d given up denying that Sid and I were dating. No one was going to believe me anyway and it was too exhausting to bother anymore.

“He’ll call when he’s ready.” I said it hoping that I was right. When I got home that night I opened my cupboards trying to decide what I wanted to have for dinner that night. Nothing looked appealing and I sighed as I sat down at the counter to brainstorm. Then it hit me.

I picked up the phone and called in the order. When I hung up I got in the car and drove to the restaurant and picked up the food. Then instead of heading home I headed over to Sidney’s. I didn’t know if he was there or even if he was hungry but I wanted to see how he was doing. I rang the doorbell and waited. Sidney opened it after a minute, but without his signature smile. I held up the food from our favorite Italian place.

“I thought I’d bring some dinner over,” I said to him. He stepped aside and motioned for me to come in. I walked in and headed for his kitchen. I took all the food out and grabbed plates and silverware from the cupboards I had already familiarized myself with.

“It smells great. I’m starving,” he said grabbing a couple of sodas from the refrigerator and sitting down at the table. We began to eat in silence and it was probably the most awkward I’d ever felt around him. I wasn’t sure what to say or do and he obviously wasn’t in a great mood.

Leave it to Shooter to solve the problem for me. Out of nowhere he came tearing into the kitchen. He tried to turn the corner to run over to us but his back feet slid out from under him and he spun completely around before slamming head first into the wall. Sidney and I looked at him in surprise for a moment and then I burst out laughing. I couldn’t help myself.
Shooter got up like nothing had happened and walked over to me wagging his tail. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t even pet him. Then I heard Sidney start to laugh. I looked over at him and our eyes met. Suddenly we couldn’t stop laughing. Shooter stood between us looking back and forth obviously confused. I laughed until I started to cry. Every time I thought I was going to stop Sid would burst out laughing and it would start all over again. Eventually we finally composed ourselves when Shooter trotted out of the room, bored with us.

“Did that seriously just happen?” Sidney finally asked. I took a breath and wiped away the tears.

“It seriously just did.” He shook his head smiling.

“I’m sorry I haven’t called,” he said changing the subject.

“It’s okay, I understand.”

“I really appreciate you coming over with dinner tonight. It was really nice of you. Thank you.” I smiled at him.

“Not a problem.” We finished the rest of our dinner in silence, but with a decidedly different mood in the air. I helped him clean up and we walked into the living room and turned on the TV.

“The guys are going to start leaving town soon,” he said as he flipped through the channels. I knew Buffalo was playing that night but Sidney flipped right past it. I didn’t mind at all.

“Yeah, I know. I thought about throwing one last party at my place before everyone leaves for the summer. The girls all thought it was a great idea too,” I told him.

“Yeah, that sounds like fun. When were you thinking?” he asked.

“Probably this Saturday since I know guys are going to start wanting to get out of here. I thought I’d cook up some appetizers and party food.” He smiled and nodded.

“Yes, please,” he joked. I laughed. He promised to pass the word along and I headed home for the night.

I spent the rest of the week preparing for the party. I’d had phone calls from just about everybody offering to bring stuff, but hostessing was something I loved to do and I told everyone just to show up. The week went by quickly and I woke up early on Saturday to start making the food. I was surprised when the doorbell rang and I saw Sidney on the other side.

“What can I do to help?” he asked coming into the kitchen.

“You can stay away from anything edible,” I joked remember his last foray into helping me cook.

“Come on, there’s got to be something I can do.” I looked around and in fact found some things I was confident he couldn’t screw up. We spent the next few hours hanging out in my kitchen preparing for the party and talking. His mood had lightened considerably since the last time I saw him and I was happy about that. He headed home about an hour before the party to change his clothes and shower.

“Loralei! Loralei, where are you?” I heard Colby yelling from the opposite side of the basement after the party had gotten going. I stood up and waved over to him.

“Right here, Army! What’s up?” I asked.

“Don’t tell Mel about this, but will you marry me?” he asked shoving one of my appetizers into his mouth. Mel slapped him since she was standing right next to him and laughed. I rolled my eyes at him.

“I guess it wasn’t meant to be, Muffin,” I joked. He clutched at his heart and pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.

“I’ll never forget you, my love.” With that he dramatically ran up the stairs causing the whole basement to erupt in laughter. I was going to miss him.

The party continued on for most of the night. There were tournaments going in pool, air hockey and bubble hockey. Beer pong and flip cup had been played along with a few card games. Despite it all I made sure to monitor how much I had to drink this time.

The party began to wind down and I made sure to say goodbye to everyone as they left. All the girls promised to keep in touch. Soon it was just Sidney and I left at the house. He helped me clean up even though I told him it wasn’t necessary. Once everything was done I walked him to the door.

“I’m heading out of town on Wednesday,” he said.

“Back to Nova Scotia, eh?” I asked. He nodded.

“Let’s do dinner one last time on Tuesday before I leave,” he suggested.

“Sounds good. I’ll come over when I get out of work.” We said good night and I went upstairs to bed.

On Tuesday I went over to Sidney’s house like I promised and we went for some Thai. We talked about his hometown over dinner and plans he had for the summer. We agreed that we would stay in touch the whole time. We headed back to his house and hung out a bit longer until it got pretty late.

“So I guess I’ll see you when you get back to town in a few months,” I said before leaving.

“I guess so. I’ll call and let you know when I get there.”

“Sounds good. Have a safe trip.” As I was about to walk to my car Sidney surprised me by reaching out and pulling me into a hug. I hugged him back and that’s when the emotions hit me. I closed my eyes and fought back tears. I could say whatever I wanted to my friends, but I was going to miss Sidney.