You could have knocked me over with a feather when she said yes. I suppose it shouldn't have been a surprise. We had know each other for a couple of years and even though we had never met there was always an easy way that we spent our time together online. A little flirting I guess, but effortless and we seemed pillars of virtue in a sea of sex maniacs. Well, aside from the fact we agreed that we were both perverts and spent way too much time on story sites, we were fairly virtuous. I didn't ask what else she did online and she teased me about what I might or might not not be doing.
I've only had that kind of ease with one or two other people, so for me having her for company seemed like a great addition to what was already going to be a fantastic trip. God knows there is a ton of down time between and after the morning and evening landscape photo shoots. Her being away from work, as she had been for months, was the reason I'd asked if she wanted to come along on my photo trip in the first place. She could join me when I flew into Vancouver. I'd have a good car, a couple of nice hotels near Tofino on the Pacific coast of Vancouver Island and a knack for finding the best restaurants and wine bars. It would just be friends with a chance to get a change of scenery. But still, it was me asking so, for the record, I was shocked when she agreed.
When I suggested a few ground rules she jumped at them. Separate beds, separate bills, no obligation to share time together and unless both agreed and we lost our minds at the same time, no sex. They weren't necessarily the rules i'd have imposed if left entirely too my own devices but I didn't want any pressure on either of us to make this trip into anything laden with expectations. I liked our relationship as it was and this confirmed that she did too.
I had no doubt she feared the worst and while she didn't mention it, she must have had an escape plan. There is no way I would have signed on without one if I were her. But I guess once I described my wacky schedule of early morning and late afternoon shoots, she realized she would have a nice room to herself for hours at a time with her books and her laptop. And of course, beaches to wander and those imagined restaurants and wine bars.
So here we were in a rental AMG C350 Mercedes sailing out the Trans Canada toward the Tsawwassen ferry. She looked great, very slim, short dark hair, black glasses, a lovely black skirt and shirt and sweater. She smelled even better.
They say good company is the best shortcut and the ferry ride was over in the blink of an eye. The 4 hour drive up and across the island was the shortest I've ever had as well. It was like traveling with one of my best buddies. Together we cursed drivers in other Mercedes who clearly didn't know how to drive, pondered the miracle of how Tennessee and the Giants were so high in the standings this season, agreed for over an hour, in detail, with examples, of why the CFL game is superior to the NFL game and laughed like hell at comedy on Sirius radio. Hell the only way I could tell I had a woman in the car was the three bathroom stops.
One thing was clear, we both have elevated flirting to the status of an art form. Just like in our chats, we teased and flung innuendoes at each other to our hearts content.
We set up in our hotel and then had a lovely late supper with too much wine in Tofino. Back in the room we fired up the gas fireplace and had a bit more wine and read by the fire. There was no awkwardness when we fell into our separate beds.
