Memories II

|21| • Maple Leaves in Winter •

The next weeks were just the usual. Or at least what had quickly become the usual since Brian and I had worked out a daily routine. Brian was doing his thing with the band, recording, promoting, writing songs and all that, while I was working in the pharmacy, taking time off whenever Brian had to go away for a few days so I could come with him. It had taken some getting used to, but by the end of the year we had worked out a way of planning our lives that worked out for both of us.

In early December, Brian had asked me what my plans for Christmas and New Year's were - cautiously, as he knew that my family was a sensitive topic. I told him I didn't have any for Christmas, as I had been spending the holiday season of the past years on my own, in London, not doing anything special. So he invited me to come along to his parents' house, an invitation I gladly accepted. And it turned out wonderful, it was by far the best Christmas I'd had in years. His parents were wonderful people and gladly accepted me into their little circle. It really did make me feel like part of the family, and it was wonderful not to be constantly interrogated and judged like my family had been doing before I stopped spending Christmas with them.

New Year's was spent with the band, back in London. It was so much fun, and just like Christmas, it had turned out to be the best New Year's Eve in a while. I felt truly happy, and I could say that I had finally found somewhere where I felt like I belonged, and that turned out to be by Brian's side. I was happy. The only drop of bitterness was that only a few days into the new year, Brian left for their North American tour, to rehearse in Boston before their first concert on the 13th in Wisconsin. I wouldn't be joining them from the beginning so, letting him go at the airport was hard. It was for four weeks, four long weeks until I would be joining them in Toronto for a month, and then I would contact my boss to see how urgently he needed me back. If they were getting on fine, I would stay for the rest of the tour, if not then he would have three weeks on tour without me left.

We were both fine with that plan, as it meant an entire month together on tour, and I was optimistic that we would make it through a few weeks of not seeing each other. I wasn't too keen on the idea of him looking as fabulous as he did on stage for weeks at a time without me there to oversee it, but I would have to be optimistic and trust him.

The time difference made it tricky for Brian and I to talk often, we only talked a handful of times before I was on my way to the airport, excited to see Brian again. It made me think that maybe being apart from him from time to time would be good, so that we would learn to appreciate the times when we were together.

I had booked a non-stop flight from London to Toronto, so that means I would be stuck in the plane for a bit more than eight hours. It would be the farthest I'd ever travelled so I wasn't sure how I would handle that. I had packed a couple of books and I had gotten Ruth to teach me knitting a bit more again, so I had also packed wool and knitting needles so I could experiment with that on the flight.

Nonetheless, I had underestimated the length of the flight, so about halfway in, I was getting very bored and tired of sitting, and I couldn't wait to see Brian again. But I still had hours of nothing ahead before I could see my wonderful boyfriend again. I tried to take a nap in the remaining time, but somehow I couldn't sleep, so eventually I gave up and continued with knitting, since that was more active than reading. Eventually my seat neighbour got curious what I was knitting, so I started to chat with him, and that conversation evolved from knitting to a lot more general topics, and that finally made the time pass. When the pilot announced that we would be landing soon, I was incredibly relieved, and I could feel my excitement grow again. I was nearly there, I was going to see Brian again so soon.

It took a while to complete all bureaucratic necessities for entering the country, so it took longer than I had initially hoped until I was ready to go with my suitcase. I said goodbye to my seat neighbour as our ways parted when we left the restricted area, and then I was on the lookout, not for Brian, but for a driver holding a sign with my name on it. The last time we had talked, Brian said it would be easier and faster if he wasn't the one who would meet me in the airport. I was arriving in the afternoon Canadian time, which meant it was busy and there would be plenty of people which would mean Brian would be recognised more frequently than we'd want in that situation.