POV: Colin
The next morning I woke up on the sofa, greeted by the smell of bacon. I sat up and saw that Callie was in the kitchen cooking breakfast. The sweet smell of maple syrup and pancakes wafted through the hotel.
"G'morning love," I smiled, standing up, and walking over to give her a kiss.
"Hey! Look who's up! I didn't think you'd be awake this soon."
"Why do you say that?" I questioned.
"Well you came home, cracked open the complimentary bottle of Poitín, and passed out on the couch... I just figured you'd be asleep longer."
I looked over to the half empty bottle of alcohol on the table and put my arm around her waist.
"I'm sorry"
"It's ok," she smiled, "So tomorrow is the big day huh? I'm going to meet your family!"
"Yep!" I exclaimed walking over to the cabinet, "It's going to be great... You're going to be great..."
She blushed as I handed her a plate and got one for myself.
"I hope so... This will determine our life together..."
"It's not that serious," I assured her, "Most of us will be too drunk!"
We laughed and went to the table to eat together. Somewhere along the way of our chatter, she began asking more personal questions about me, and what I wanted in the future.
"How do kids sound to you?" She asked cautiously.
"Love em'" I insisted, "I've wanted children for a while now, but I guess it just isn't meant to be..."
She smiled and looked down at her plate.
"What if I told you I had a son?"
I gazed at her with a look of confusion.
"I– Why are you just telling me this now?"
"I didn't know if it would ruin things between us..." she insisted.
I stared off into the distance and thought for a few moments.
"How old is he?"
"He's five... He's been staying with my parents while I came down to Vancouver for a little while... Like I said, I was never supposed to stay this long..."
She reached over the table and grabbed my hand.
"If I would've known, I wouldn't have asked you to come—"
"I know... He's safe though—"
"He needs his mother—"
"He also needs a father..."
All of a sudden my phone began ringing, and I picked it up to see who it was.
"Hello?"
"Hey, can you come over? I think something is wrong with Savannah, and I planned to go meet up with Ryan later—"
"Yea, I'll be right over," I said, hanging up, and looking over at Callie.
"What's wrong?"
"Savannah is sick and Tony is going out... Will you be alright if I go over there for a little while?"
She looked down at her plate and forced an unconvincing smile, "Yeah... thats fine"
I could tell she was upset, but I needed to go take care of Savannah.
"I'm sorry," I insisted, "Look, maybe you can go with Tony? I'm sure he wouldn't mind—"
"Yeah," she smiled, "and maybe it was a bad idea for me to come with you... Obviously I was stupid to think there was any room in your heart for anyone other than Savannah."
I stood up and walked towards the door, "You weren't the stupid one, you're genuinely perfect... I was the stupid one to think I could ever stop loving her..."
Callie walked over to me and kissed my cheek.
"I understand... True love is a hard thing to come by," she smiled sweetly and tears fell from her eyes, "It was fun while it lasted—"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means I'll be leaving to go back to my son as soon as possible, but thank you for this opportunity... it was an amazing pleasure."
She walked away, and I stood at the door for a few minutes, contemplating on whether to stay or go. I took one last long look down the hall, and turned around to open the door. Savannah and I may have had our differences, but she still meant more to me than anything imaginable.
As I shut the door behind myself, I felt immense guilt rush through my body, but I knew in my heart that what I was doing was right. I walked across the hall, knocked on the door, and was greeted by tony.
"Hey man, thanks for coming, I was just leaving—"
"No problem... Tell Ryan I said I'll see him tomorrow"
"Ok," he said cheerfully, patting me on the back, "You sure you're alright with this?"
"Yeah," I smiled, "Not a problem at all."
Tony nodded and walked past me, "She's in the bedroom... I dont know what's wrong with her, but she doesn't look good... Have fun with that!"
I walked into the hotel room and closed the door, immediately making my way to the bedroom where Savannah was located.
"Oh wow, you do look terrible..."
Savannah looked at me and put a pillow over her face.
"I told Tony not to call you!"
"Why?" I smiled, "Don't want me seeing you all hot and sweaty? Trust me, I've seen it before—"
"Shut up," she laughed moving the pillow from her face, and carefully getting out of the bed.
"Where are you going?"
"To throw up in the restroom, do you want to come watch or something?"
I laughed and shook my head no as she made her way down the hall. I stood outside of the bathroom, waiting for her to finish, and wincing at every dry heave.
"When did all of this start?" I asked concernedly.
"I was up and down all night with a stomach ache—"
"I think you have food poising..."
There was a long silence, accompanied with another dry heave.
"Wonder whose fault that is!" She insisted, "Maybe squid just doesnt agree with me—"
"Did you chew?"
"Not really"
"But you swallowed?"
She flushed the toilet and stood in the doorway holding her stomach.
"Shut up Colin—"
"Yea, you've never really had a problem with that before," I laughed.
"Look whose making jokes Mr. I get turned on by ice cream!" She exclaimed.
"I don't get turned on by ice cream, I get turned on by you..."
I gazed over into her eyes and smiled, causing her to look away and blushed. I wanted desperately to kiss her, but I figured that probably wouldn't be the best idea, considering the fact that she was just spewing up last night's seafood meal.
I sat outside of the doorway for hours, staying there with her, and making sure she was ok. We even managed to make small talk in between some of the violent outbursts. As the day went on I felt terrible for even making her go to that restaurant in the first place.
"Savannah?" I shouted, "Feeling any better?"
"Better than this morning I guess."
I sighed and buried my head in my hands.
"Sorry, it's my fault—"
"I was kidding Colin, don't feel bad. Neither of us knew it would make me sick..."
There was a momentary silence, and a clanking sound.
"You alright in there?"
"Yeah," she insisted, emerging from the bathroom, "I think I'm ok enough to go back to bed..."
I followed behind her into the bedroom, and sat down next to her.
"You and Tony only used this bed for sleeping, correct?"
She rolled her eyes and laughed, "Tony and I didn't swap bodily fluids if that's what you're wondering—"
"You could've just said yes," I insisted, "You sure you still want to go tomorrow?"
"Of course, I should be fine by then... Right?"
"I hope so..."
She flashed me a weak smile, and slapped her hand on my leg, "Thanks Colin"
She laid down and I got up to grab the remote from the TV stand.
"Here," I insisted, laying down next to her, and offering over the remote.
She turned to me with a confused look on her face.
"Why aren't you with Callie?"
"Do you want the remote or not—"
"I don't care about the remote Colin..."
I sighed and brushed the hair back from her face.
"Callie is gone..."
"What do you mean she's gone—"
"She made me realize a few things about myself... I realized that matter how many times we argue about stupid things, or how many I have to sit outside the bathroom and listen to you dry heave," I insisted sincerely, smiling and resting my hand against her cheek, "I'll always be in love with you... and true love is not something easily conquered..."
She let out a faint laugh, rested her head on my shoulder, and grabbed my hand.
"I love you too Colin..."