Tonight is a Wonderful Time

Could there be anything more boring than a curling match? Winny kept the thought to herself while outwardly, she watched the game with what she hoped appeared to be interest. Her boyfriend, Brad, waved to her from behind the glass and in return, she gave a lift of her head and a smile. Pretending to suddenly need something from the purse at her feet, she ducked down and stifled a yawn. Her long hair hid the secret and she was glad she hadn't gotten it cut in the new shorter style all the other girls seemed to favor.

"Right after the game, we'll go out for dinner," he'd said as he laced up his shoes. He stood then, zipped up the close fitting jacket he wore for its warmth and flexibility, and grabbed up his broom with pride. He stroked her blonde tresses, and bent to kiss her forehead, while behind him, men twice and three times his age called out to him to hurry it up. "Come on Bradley! Game at hand."

Winny sipped her tepid coffee, and bounced her teeth against the Styrofoam cup leaving little impressions in it. She studied the pattern her teeth made, and set about making the pattern go entirely round the rim. Realizing her boredom was showing, she gazed with unseeing eyes at the frantic brush strokes of the players as they encouraged the stones to glide further down the sheet. Brad, or Bradley, as they all called him here, was the youngest player. For reasons Winny wasn't entirely sure of, that embarrassed her.

Maybe because he's the only eighteen year old in a room full of forty year olds . . . and their parents, she thought. Brad had just done something good she surmised, as he turned to face her, a wide grin on his face. She wasn't entirely sure what he'd done, but knew it had to do with the stone he'd "swept" into a ring marked on the ice. Winny smiled and clapped one hand against the cup. The smile fell from her face the moment his back was turned and she hid the frown behind the now half-empty and much bitten cup.

The polka music in the background droned and seemed to reverberate off the fake wood paneling of the lobby. Grayed, permed and color-treated heads bobbed around her in animated conversation next to thin-haired scalps and bald domes. They remarked often and loudly over the successes and failures playing out beyond the Plexi-glass partition. Cigarette smoke swirled above Winny's head, and into her nostrils, through her lungs, filling her with longing. She'd promised Brad she'd give it her best shot to give up the bad habit—for him. She wondered if he'd be willing to give up curling for her. It seemed a fair trade.

Behind her, the entrance door opened, and a girl rushed in, bringing a cold breeze from the blowing snow outside along with her. She stamped her feet and blew on her gloveless hands. She waved to an older man out on the sheet, and did a quick perusal of the room. Winny waved almost too frantically to gain the girl's attention. The last thing Winny thought she'd find here tonight, other than boredom, was a friend.

"Kara! Over here."

Kara beamed and shook the snow from her short dark curls as she approached the table and plunked down heavily in the chair next to Winny's.

"You are the last person I'd expect to find here!" Kara said with a laugh.

"Same. You? Here?"

"Don't tell anyone, but I come here a lot," she whispered and waved or nodded to the patrons. "I curl. My parents make me."

"You poor girl!" Winny said, patting her friend's hand.

"I'm not here to play tonight. Just to pick up my dad. I borrowed the car for awhile."

"So you can escape any time you like?" Winny asked with envious wistfulness.

"Let's escape now," Kara said and pulled Winny up with her as she rose and headed toward the door. She paused a moment, waved to her father, motioned to her watch, outside, rolled her eyes, shook her head, and splayed both hands with her palms toward him. "Okay, all set. We've got at least ten minutes, which he knows means twenty or thirty in Kara-ese."

They sat in the car, the heat turned up full blast, while the stereo played a CD Winny recognized immediately. It was old '70s music, but she knew all the songs. It was Brad's favorite CD. They'd been listening to it on the way to the curling rink. "April Wine, Greatest Hits," she stated.

"My favorite," Kara said, as she pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She offered one to Winny.

"Did you know I quit?" Winny said after she lit it, then leaned her head back and blew the smoke out on a sigh.

"Nice to see it's going so well." Kara laughed. "So tell me what you're doing here."

Winny shrugged and blushed. "I'm here with Brad."

"No way," Kara said and shook her head. "Brad? He's so not your type."

"He's not anybody's type," Winny said.

"Wow. Jaded. You've been hanging around too many blue-haired old ladies. You're starting to sound like them."

"You can talk?" Winny said with a laugh.

"So is this pretty recent, you and Brad? I'm just curious why you never told me."

"I didn't tell anybody, cause . . ." Winny shrugged again. "You know. He . . . curls. And he hangs out with forty and fifty year old guys, and he's just . . . nobody's type."

Both girls were suddenly uncomfortable with the conversation and so they talked mundanities of community college classes, rumors and gossip until their cigarettes burned down and April Wine moved from "Bad Side of the Moon" to "I Wouldn't Want to Lose Your Love."

They both stopped talking then and began to sing along. Winny had to admit, it was a song that reached across time and affected listeners for the truth it told—for lovers everywhere. They both let their voices fade, and instead, only listened. Winny sighed.

"This is why I'm with Brad. This song."

Kara was quiet until the song ended, then pushed the button that would restart the song. She dug out her cigarettes again, and offered another to Winny. The song started over again, but Kara turned it down and took a long drag off her cigarette before speaking. She didn't look at Winny but gazed straight ahead at the swirling snow. "And this is why I like Brad too. This song."

Winny stared at her friend in shocked silence. "You like Brad? Why didn't you say so?"

Kara laughed. "He's nobody's type, remember? But the truth is, it cut to find out you're with him. It's more than April Wine too. I like curling. So does he. We have all the same friends." She gave a short laugh. "They're all older and pretty bossy at times, but . . ." She sighed. "I've had a crush on him for a long time."

This time Winny stared ahead. She let the cigarette burn down without taking a drag until the ash grew long. Finally noticing, she rolled down the window next to her and tossed it into the rapidly piling snow.

"I quit. I thought I quit for him." Winny sighed. "I thought I wanted to be with him—but I don't. I thought I wanted to change for him. But I don't. He's cute and I was flattered, and this song. He sings it as if—"

"As if he wrote it," Kara finished.

"So how come you two never got together?"

Kara shook her head, and gave a derisive laugh. "I'm not good at that flirtation stuff. You know that. I could never tell if he was flirting with me, or if I just wanted him to so badly, I imagined it. Pathetic huh?"

"Nope. I bet that's why he's been single so long too. Until I came along. He's not very good at flirting but I have ways to help guys along. I bet I'm going out with your boyfriend."

The laugh they shared was shallow and carried hurt for them both.

"You know what?" Winny stated suddenly as the next track started. "Tonight is a wonderful night to fall in love. Really. Seriously."

Kara frowned at her friend and pushed an errant curl off her forehead. She shook her head and said, "How?"

"You're driving me to the bus stop. You made your dad think you had to drive off somewhere, so now you're not lying to him."

"But what about Brad?" Kara said, her eyes wide with shock.

"Oh, Brad. Poor, poor Brad. So unceremoniously dumped. I just hope you'll be there to pick up the pieces for him."

Kara smiled. "I can't do that!"

"You can and you will. Now get this car moving!" She put on her seatbelt and patted her friend's knee. "Come on! I don't want to miss my bus. And lose the cigarettes. For you—but let him think it's for him. He likes that."

Winny cranked up the volume on the stereo as Kara backed the car out of the parking spot, and they sang out loud and off-key.

"Cause tonight is a wonderful time to fall in love, oh yeah!"