Roberta McNally and her best friend Barbra Daily walked up the stairs to the front door of the old Victorian house. It was in the older, wealthier university district of Crow Harbour and was once a grand family home, now divided into apartments. Bobbie was a little sad for the house and mentioned to Barb. “It is like the grand old place has lost all its charm. Original woodwork is gone and it has cheap aluminum windows and siding.”

“Bobbie, yes, it’s sad that this is not a family home anymore but you’re just being negative because you don’t really want to go to this party. Give it a chance!”

“You’re right Barb. I’d feel more comfortable if we were actually invited.”

Barb laughed. “Well a cute guy in my English lit class did mention it to me.”

Before Bobbie could respond, the front door opened and they were ushered inside. The found themselves right in the kitchen. The awkward layout spoke to the subdivision of the old house and it was typical of student housing throughout the city. The kitchen was oversized and had an outdoor picnic table subbing as a kitchen table in one corner. Two old dressers along one empty wall provided Kitchen storage. It was also full of people; the party was clearly in the kitchen.

Bobbie had a bottle of Mateus wine that needed a corkscrew so they began searching. They laughed and joked with people about ‘fancy wine’ as they as they went through the kitchen drawers and soon everyone was looking for a corkscrew. Eventually they found one and Bobbie poured her wine and wandered into the living room.

Barb stayed in the kitchen, she found the cute guy from her English class, whose name was Ron. “This is a great place, do you live here?”

“I just moved in. One of the guys is leaving. My new roommates are really nice and I think it’s going to be better than living in residence.”

“What was wrong with residence? I just moved in.”

“There was nothing wrong with res, I just want more independence. You’ll be fine if you like cafeteria food.”

“I’m looking forward to living right on the campus.”

In the living room Bobbie was talking to the girl sitting next to her. “You look familiar, are you in any of my math classes?”

The girl laughed.“No, I think I know you from the music shop.”

Bobbie worked at a music store over the summer and still picked up a few hours on weekends. “Oh that’s right your name is Cindy and you take piano lessons.”

Cindy looked up. “There’s the guy that’s moving out, Hi Alex.”

Bobbie’s heart skipped a beat when she saw who was in the doorway. Alex Orlov was tall and muscular and had deep set blue eyes with thick dark brows. Light brown hair framed his wide face. He had a slight dimple in his chin when he smiled. He was her Teacher’s Assistant for a math lab. Bobbie was secretly wishing she talked to him more, he was really cute.

Barb came in and nudged Bobby. “Ooh that Alex guy is a hunk.”

People were moving over to Alex, leaving Bobby and Barb alone on the couch, as they congratulated him on his new place and his graduation.

“So we crashed Alex Orlov’s party.” Bobbie thought. She didn’t know if Alex remembed her and wondered if she should go talk to him. Excitement, indecision and a little embarrassment made her flustered.

“Bobbie, are you still feeling unwelcome? Maybe you’ll feel better if you are holding a guitar.”

Cindy slid back onto the couch. “Oh yes play us a song!”

It was a good distraction; Bobbie was used to jamming at parties so she started to play and sing. Barb and Cindy sang along. She glanced over at Alex and he was staring at her.

Alex hadn’t expected to run into that undergrad from his math lab. He remembered her well. He liked her big brown eyes that peeked out from bangs of her dark wavy hair. She was also nice and tall and he couldn’t help but notice her great figure. She was smart too but she was pretty in a girl next door kind of way and seemed to fade into the background. He hadn’t realized she could play the guitar or sing like that.

As the song ended, Alex worked his way over to them and said. “How’s my favourite student?”

Bobbie blushed and stuttered. “Hi Alex, this is Barb,” pointing at Barb.

“OMG he’s flirting!” Whispered Barb.

Alex sat on the floor beside her, tugged her pant leg and asked “Do you know the House of the Rising Sun?” He just leaned back and listened to her play.

He monopolized her all evening. He listened to her sing and brought her drinks. Between songs Bobbie told him the stories about why she liked them and Alex was charmed. Soon the party was clearing out around them. Barb tapped her arm, breaking their little bubble reminding Bobbie they had to run to catch the last bus. Bobbie did not want to leave.

“So I guess you’re not staying at my place then​?” Barb had snacks waiting at her new dorm room and was looking forward to having Bobbie stay over.

“I’ll catch up with you tomorrow,” said Bobbie dismissively.

“Well, be careful walking home alone Bobbie,” said Barb pointedly over her shoulder as she walked out.

Eventually, Bobbie and Alex were left alone, sitting on the floor, leaning together, while Bobbie strummed idly on the guitar.

“So, this is your party, are you leaving us for greener pastures?”

“Nope, I’m not going far, I’m moving into a house in the North End that my parents helped me buy, as a graduation present. I start a job with an engineering firm next week.”

“ Wow, that’s nice of your parents. You’re all finished at the university then. I guess you defended your thesis and have your masters now.” Bobbie checked her watch and said. “It’s late and I’m starting to fizzle out.”

Alex stood up abruptly. “Me too, I’m starving, let’s get something to eat.”

Bobbie nodded and Alex helped her up. They found their jackets and walked out the door. The night was so quiet and the air was still and fresh, cold enough you could almost see your breath. It felt like the whole world had stopped and they were the only two left awake. Bobbie imagined she could feel romance in the air.

“Lets go to McDonald’s.” Only the drive through was open this late and Bobbie wondered how they were going to get served without a car. Alex walked right up to the window and jumped on the bell for service.

There was a pause, and a sleepy voice came through the intercom. “Welcome to McDonald’s, can I take your order?”

“It’s me, Doggie.”

“Oh, hey Alex, how was your party? Come around to the side door and I’ll let you in.”

The kitchen was very quiet and the grills and fryers were turned off. Doggie, whose real name was Donald Geoffrey was an engineering student when he was not working the McDonald’s night shift. He was quite short and with his wide grin, he almost looked like a little kid. He told them if they wanted to eat for free, the only things that weren’t counted were cheese slices and pop, though they counted the cups. He reached into the bag on the floor beside him and pulled out a big plastic cup. It came from the movie theatre and had Star Wars stuff printed on it.

“I drink 2 or three big glasses of coke a night for free. I bring bread and make grilled cheese sandwiches with the free cheese and I get finished cleaning hours early and usually get paid for 4 hours of sleeping.”

“Geez Doggie, you’re living the dream,” teased Alex.

They sat at the small table nearest the kitchen and ate grilled cheese sandwiches and drank pop from the big Star Wars cup. They used 3 straws and Doggie kept refilling. Soon, Bobbie was practically sloshing. She quietly excused herself, taking care to keep everything clean so Doggie wouldn’t have to clean the washrooms again. As she washed her hands she realized she was sobered up, and wondered if she should go home after all.

She returned to the table. ”Well I guess I should head home now.”

“Aw, I wanted you to see my new house.”

Bobbie nodded and smiled. “We should let Doggie get his sleep now. Thanks for everything Doggie, it was nice to meet you.”

Bobbie really liked Alex and was glad that the night that was feeling so magical, wasn’t ending. It was a couple kilometres but they held hands and chatted all the way. It was almost dawn when they finally got there. It was too far for her to walk home and she wasn’t sure what to do.

Alex unlocked the door, ushering Bobbie in before him. He pulled her close and gently kissed her. Bobbie felt her knees wobble.

He started giving her the tour. “So this is my room, you can sleep here, I’ll sleep on the couch in the living room and can take you home in a few hours.”

Bobbie really didn’t want Alex to sleep on the couch so she took his hand and said. “Well I wouldn’t want to kick you out of your own room.”

“To be honest Bobbie, I don’t trust myself to just ‘sleep’ beside you. Are you OK with that?”

She giggled and said. “ I’m very OK with that and since my mom is an obstetrician, she makes sure I’m safely on the pill,” she finished with a little embarrassment.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” said Alex, tickling her a little and pulling her down to the bed. “I think you have a very smart mother.”

Through giggles Bobbie breathed, “Please don’t talk about my mom right now!”

“Agreed.” And Alex covered her with kisses.

Bobbie awoke the next morning alone in the bed. She could hear Alex humming in his kitchen. She got up and ventured out to find him making cheese omelettes using a few slices of McDonald’s cheese.