Things We Don't Normally Do

TWENTY

Sometimes, a long distance relationship can feel like two parallel lives lived separately and independently from each other, only stitched together by brief points of contact. Brief and rare moments of being together, except not really.

But you choose to hang on to it anyway out of a pathetic mixture of desperation, hope, and delusion that it might just work.

This was what life was starting to feel like for Alex, like she lived parallel lives with so many people--from her mostly-estranged family, her best friend Stella, and her whatever they were supposed to be with Harry.

They had spent Christmas apart, as they both already knew they would. Harry had gone home to Guernsey to celebrate with his family, while Alex went out to party with Kate.

They made an effort though, her and Harry. They had sent each other gifts and opened them in front of each other over FaceTime on Christmas day. He got her a sidemen hoodie as he promised to hook her up, and a Chelsea FC jersey that was her size. He said it was so he could get his jersey back, the one she claimed the night of their botched first and only real date.

On the other hand, she struggled a lot trying to choose what to get Harry, when he's completely capable of getting himself whatever he wanted. Ethan and Cal had suggested FIFA packs, which she had not heard of before then, much less be able to figure out how to even gift them to him--the best solution she found after online for hours, was to get him xbox cards instead, but that seemed tacky to her. So instead, she got him something related to how they met in the first place, a season pass to the Big 3: Banff Sunshine, Lake Louise Ski Resort, and Mt. Norquay.

"Oh Nelly!" Harry lit up, looking at the piece of paper that was his present, "What I got you seem a bit shit now."

"Don't be an idiot." she laughed. She had, in fact already put the sidemen hoodie on, although she was still wearing Harry's jersey.

"I'm getting you something else." he insisted, "Fuck, I feel like such a twat now."

"Stop it." she smirked, "I like what you got me. It's you. And I like that."

"I like you." he said. He's started saying it more frequently almost like an intermittent reminder just in case she were to forget.

On December 26th, Boxing Day, Alex and Kate ended up at a strip club shortly after Alex got off of work. They did stop at Kate's apartment so they could both dress into as little fabric as they could, pregaming with drinks and something else that Kate scored from one of her sugar daddies.

Alex spent the first hour or so at the stripclub trying to get toonies into a rolled up poster between the girls' legs. If you get it in, you get a suggestive poster of the girl. It was a cash grab for sure. Why get a poster, when you're right there already able to ogle them as they undress anyway. Alex thought this but still kept playing anyway.

"I think I want to be a stripper." Alex said, turning to Kate after winning her second poster. This one was of a blonde girl with a pixie cut, whom she thought was pretty hot, "A proper one though. Like with the pole dancing tricks."

"Do it. You got the flexibility for it, I think." Kate was busy making eyes with a guy across the stage from her. Alex thought, Who does that? How do you go to s strip club where there's literally hot girls in different states of nakedness, and try to pick up a guy.

"You should do it with me." Alex said, excited about the prospect of a new project, "Pole, I mean. I've only tried it once but it was fun. Really good workout."

"A bit too much work for me." Kate shrugged, "I'll stick with OnlyFans. Milk sad saps, and all I gotta do is take my clothes of."

Kate had recently quit all efforts to find a job in favour of being a full-time sugar baby and part time OnlyFans model.