Miss, Do I Know You?

39 - Saturday, April 24

"Beautiful."

I smiled and watched Alex take the photo out of the camera. "How have you not run out of film yet? How much did you bring?"

"Like half of my monthly salary's worth," she said with a chuckle. "We're tourists, so we're supposed to act like it."

Though I was only joking around, I genuinely appreciated her devotion to preserving the day through the lens of the camera, entrusted to us by Benji himself. It felt as if she was bottling up moments and letting us relive, to the best of her ability, that warm spring evening and the smiles that shone bright that day. It was a beautiful gesture.

"Would you make fun of me if I said I've never traveled?" I confessed, feeling almost sheepish. "I haven't been in another city besides Toronto before."

"Really? How so?"

"We didn't travel much, my family. We occasionally spent weekends in the countryside where Chris' ex-wife had this small house. Or my dad would take me camping in the mountains. I don't think we felt the need to go beyond that."

Soft curiosity sparkled in her eyes. "Is there anywhere you would really want to go?"

"I don't know. I mean, probably those places that most people go to. Honestly, I'm not even sure what—" I groaned as breathlessness tainted my words. "Alex, do you have somewhere to be?"

She spun to me with a laugh. "No?"

"Then why do you always walk so fast? As soon as I take your hand, you start dragging me like you're late for something."

"Who was it that insisted on walking everywhere? Not me."

"I might be regretting it right now." I sighed. "I think I wore the wrong boots, and now I have blisters."

She immediately stopped and pulled her phone out. "Why didn't you say anything? Let's head back to the car then."

As I wasn't one for planning, Alex had taken charge of navigation for the day, choosing the destinations she had her heart set on. But as we strolled around, we discovered places that led us to take slight detours. The day flowed naturally, from spontaneity to purposeful direction, exhaustive yet utterly heartening.

Montreal was the kind of place that begged to be explored one step at a time. The stunning buildings, the picturesque cobblestone streets that crisscrossed, and the breathtaking landscapes that seemed to have flown straight out of a postcard. Each step offered something exciting, like a lot of French people. My ears were immensely enjoying our trip.

As soon as Alex caught wind of the direction we had to go in, she slung her backpack off her shoulders and handed it over, turning her back to me. And when she tilted forward, extending her arms, I couldn't help the wide grin that spread.

"All of a sudden, I'm glad I wore these boots." I chuckled and hopped onto her back. "Ah, yes, carry me. You're like a donkey."

Huffing, she adjusted me to a comfortable position, but the stifled laughter beneath her words was unmistakable. "Call me that again, and the donkey might just dump you into that garbage container over there."

Only a few paces in, and quite unexpectedly, she burst into a spontaneous sprint and sent my laughter to new heights. And though our antics garnered some curious looks from the people on the street, we were too wrapped up in our own little bubble to care. I was having the time of my life and, as ever, could not get enough.

Every muscle in my cheeks and stomach had been working overtime all day long, begging for a pause. But this was Alex. Nothing suggested a pause was in order with her, and she had me in stitches. It had long become abundantly clear where Benji got his boundless energy from.