As it Began

Early September 1974 -Halifax Airport

It was that time. I was finally off to live in my dream city for two years and then some! My parents, Gabriella and her husband Brent, my aunt Cindy, uncle Fred and cousin Krista all came to wish me luck and say goodbye at the airport. This was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do- I've never been one to leave home for long periods of time, so we were all pretty emotional. So after many hugs and goodbyes, I set off for security and onto my plane. I was scheduled for a 9 hour flight direct to Heathrow in London, arriving at 10:30 AM their time. It was long and I slept a bit, no big deal. Then I finally arrived back to the flawless city that was all too familiar now. I showed my passport, went through security, and was on my way to a whole new lifestyle.

After what seemed like years I woke up to a shaking plane that seemed to be heading downward. There was an older lady sitting across the aisle from me. "Are we landing?" I asked her with my groggy voice.

"Yes we are, ma'am!" She answered in a jolly English accent.

"Oh...my gosh," it began to sink in and I looked out the window beside me. The view was amazing- this was my city! The traffic and the buildings were there, looking all too familiar on my third trip here.

It was a rush of sheer energy to come off that plane and out of the airport, to
finally be here once again. I took a short bus ride to my university and got signed into a dorm room after much paperwork.

Room 126. When I got to Room 126 and found two girls making out on the small coffee counter, and the two beds both covered in suitcases, I knew some issues had to be resolved. I set my heavy suitcases down and creeped in, trying to avert my eyes politely. Then one caught sight of me, unfortunately.

"Do you mind?" One girl yelled when she saw me. She had an extremely posh English accent that was quite hard to understand. However I understood the somewhat kind "fuck off" and slipped out of the door.

"Sorry!" I squeaked. Great. My first day here and I don't even have a place to live. I went to the front counter to resolve it myself.

"You have me in the wrong room." I said matter-of-factly.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but Room 126 is correct. You are Miss Meghan Stevens of Canada, yes?" The little English woman replied.

"Yes I am, and I promise you that my room has been taken by a woman and her...good friend."

The woman looked deep in thought. "Just one minute." She said as she frantically dialled a number on the telephone. She "hmm'd" and "ahh'd" quite a lot and suddenly smiled and hung up. "Okay Miss Stevens, we have a special offer for you if you would like to accept." I jumped when I heard that and gave an anxious smile. "It is as follows," she continued. "We have these suites open to our international students, reserved for all-inclusive passes only. However, there are exceptions and, seeing as there are no more available rooms here, we can set you up in an international suite for now, if you must accept," she gave me a wide smile. I was speechless.

"Oh my...oh, that sounds absolutely amazing!" I said with a huge smile.

"Great! I'll make some arrangements and we'll have you in there in no time! Oh, and you don't mind a roommate, right? She's very nice, and she's American. That's close to your home, right?"

"Yes! Oh I can't wait, thank you!" I was so excited to see my new room- or suite! She handed me a key and some paperwork and sent me off down the hall. "Thank you!" I exclaimed again, waving.

When I arrived at what was to be my new flat, Room 103A, I took a deep breath, fixed my hair a little and walked in hoping to make a good first impression on my roommate.

When I walked in, I saw a large living area/kitchen with a wall-length window running behind them, overlooking one of the football fields. A large sofa sat across the adjacent wall in front of a television on wheels in front of a wall between two doors. Oh man, I hoped and prayed that I had the right room! Then a tall, slender woman with long, shiny black hair came out of the first of the two doors and looked right at me. Her eyes were large, brown and full of question.

"Oh, you must be my new roommate! How awesome to meet you!" She had a rich American accent which already made it feel a bit like home. Canadians have similar accents, right?

"Well it depends," I handed her my paperwork to make sure it was correct. She studied it carefully. "I could be wrong. It has been a rather long flight after all and lack of sleep sometimes-"

"Welcome home, roommate!" She suddenly exclaimed, cutting me off. She immediately set the papers on the coffee table and helped me with my bags. I looked a bit confused and she stopped. "I'm sorry, my name is Vanessa. But you can call me Nessa...or Vanessa. Whatever suits your fancy!" She seems very quirky and hilarious. I think we'll get on well. "And your name is...?" I snapped out of my thoughts.

"I'm Meghan.....Meghan Stevens." I tried to return some of the quirk, smiling.

"You're the Canadian, right?"

"Uhh, yeah. Am I...known as that now? Haha," is that what I'm going to be known as? 'The Canadian'? Could be good or bad.

"Well as you probably know, the Brits tend to go all gaga for Canadians and want nothing to do with us Americans," she got closer to my face which freaked me out a bit. She was weird but she had a faint smell of lovely vanilla so it wasn't so bad. She just kept getting closer, so close that I was contemplating running out the door. What is it with this place and lesbians? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but...this was getting weird.

"Oh," I replied nervously. "Well I'm sure they...like you guys too..." I leaned away from her face and changed the subject. "So...tell me about yourself, what are you studying? How old are you? Should I not ask that question...?"

"No problem Meg! ...You don't mind if I call you that do you?" I shook my head.

"Not at all, everyone calls me Meg!" It was true. We then moved to the sofa along the wall and began exchanging information.

"Okay Meg, I'm 26 years old and I'm studying the history of cosmetics, so basically a research job. It's a kind of science. And it's my final year! What about you?"

"Well Nessa, I am 24, but I'm going to be 25 this month! I'm studying beauty and cosmetics...and not the science behind it. Basically everything to do with makeup, hairstyling and massage therapy. I'm hoping to major in stage makeup though, I always thought it would be interesting. And...yeah!"

"That is very interesting! So what part of Canada are you from?"

"Nova Scotia...just a tiny province on the East Coast. And what part of America are you from?"

"Oh, I'm from Chicago. Chicago proud as I like to say!" We laughed for a good while.

Vanessa was quite peculiar at first, but she's actually pretty awesome! We kept talking all afternoon and then she took me for dinner on campus and showed me around the place. The first night came to an end and it was actually amazing. Nessa introduced me to some great people and we had some drinks and lots of fun. All was great- until bedtime, when everything set in. Nessa and I shared a bedroom with two double beds that had two end tables and lots of room between them. We said "goodnight" and she was instantly asleep.

This was always my fear, laying in the dark awake. My mind began to race and I thought about everything from home, to the classes I began the next day, to my family and friends, to.....Roger. Knowing that I was this close to him once again made it even more painful. It seems crazy but it's like a need for him that I have so strong. I had to meet him again, if its the last thing I do. With that final thought, I fell into a restless sleep, dreaming once again.