Tripping| Van McCann

18. Farewell, my friend

Van's P.O.V.

I hit the alarm in the speed of light once it woke me up with that ringing noise. I rushed to the bathroom, took care of the morning routines, put on some clothes, and glanced on my reflection in the mirror for one last time before I left the room. It's the last day, not even twenty four hours for us to share commonly. I sighed to my own reflection and turned away from it. Then I stepped out of the room and looked into the corridor. There were noises from the next door. Within seconds, the door next to mine sprang open. And she's doing the same thing as I did. We laughed at the familiarity of us and went for the breakfast supplied by the place. After we finished, we went to retrieve the car and buttoned ourselves in. I pressed my feet against the pedal. Here you go, the last day you're spending with her. Do it quick or not. It's either this way  or that.

My consciousness told me to tell her about my feelings, but every part of my body was in defence of that—the tension between the muscles increased and I felt the nerves getting on me whenever I reached that part, it's as if the Area 51 where nobody could enter, despite I was the owner of the Area 51 of my own mind.

We spent the day patrolling around the city, as I spotted some spots where I could retrieve from my memories. "That's a nice pub that the lads and I just gathered there after shows here sometimes," I pointed my finger to a pub. "And here we go, we're at the arena," I halted the car amid as for her to take a detailed look of the arena more precisely. "Perhaps you might run into me some nights when we're gigging here." I smiled at the words came out from my mouth. It'd surely be nice to see her again in those rare occasions.

"And could I get a VIP for that?" She asked playfully, with the corners of her lips slightly curved upwards. And she was playing with her hair, waiting for my response.

"Yup for sure," I beamed at the thought of meeting her again in the backstage, after the gigs and we'd all got sweaty and exhausted and desiccated. It'd be nice to have a bit of a rarity in those long days of dull, repetitive days and nights of playing the same songs over and over again until you're called to a stop and finally headed for home. "Perhaps with an exclusive visit to our dressing room—for you only."

"Wow, that's lovely," she smiled slyly. "And the fans' gonna beat me up into pieces." Her lips were still cornered with the smile she's had on her face. I smiled back to her and we stopped talking for a second. And I thought about talking my feelings towards her out loud. And when the words were on my lips, we both parted our lips simultaneously, "I—." And it came to an abrupt halt. Christ, I must have ruined it again.

"After you," I finally managed to say. Her cheeks were a bit flushed with a slight hint of red. But that didn't give her a reason to not talk about whatever she wanted to talk at the instant.

"I—just want to tell you that I'm very grateful for what you've done for these two weeks," she admitted shyly. "It's certainly an unforgettable journey."

I felt my heart skipped a beat. The disappointment had flushed into my system. But I managed to keep my face intact, and said with my best smile, "Oh, it's nowt. Lovely to have a trip with ya lass as well." I heard the thud of the heavy mass falling in accordance with gravity. That was the proper moment I could try my luck on it and I just let it slip away within my reach.

"That's another thing I'd like to tell you," she continued. "I'm not gonna stay with you for the night. I've already talked to the university and managed to have the dorm settled down some weeks before school starts. So I supposed this will be the last few hours of the trip." I couldn't bear to watch her facial expressions as if it might hurt me. Even though I'd already known of that hours ago. I didn't mind being on my own for a while—God, I'm an only child, being alone was never a big deal to me. But she filled the parts of my life with colours and vividness. And now she's going to leave. And I was again set with the emptiness, which had once been occupied but now left a vacancy for the next person appear to fill in.