I have known Ellen for as long as I can remember. Our mothers are best friends and live on the same street, and our birthdays are only weeks apart. We used to play together all the time as children, and were in the same class all the way through our school days. When we were young children the differences between boys and girls were not very important and Ellen and I were best friends, I was forever round at her house and she at mine. As we got older I spent more time with the boys, but we still remained very close through primary school and into secondary.
Once we hit puberty the differences between boys and girls became much more important, and along with my friends, I started going out with girls. I had several girlfriends throughout my later school years, but never really saw Ellen as girlfriend material. That wasn't to say she was ugly. The short, chubby little girl with braces and thick glasses had blossomed into a young woman with a well-developed figure. However for some reason she never really made the most of it. While her girlfriends flaunted their newfound femininity and teased the boys mercilessly, Ellen always dressed sensibly and spent more of her time studying than partying. She was a great help to me during exam time when she acted as tutor for me in English, a subject I was not very strong in but needed to at least pass to get into the architecture course I wanted at university. With Ellen's help I managed to pass the exam and soon was enjoying myself at Uni. Ellen passed her exams with flying colours, and ended up at the same Uni as me, studying English literature. This meant we saw each other at uni as well as at home.
During my uni years I had several girlfriends but Ellen again spent most of her time in the library and never really had a boyfriend. This led to her gaining a reputation of being an "ice queen" and some people even questioned if she was interested in boys at all. However she was still the same old Ellen to me, and we always had fun when we got together as friends, even though we moved in such different social circles.
We graduated at the same time, Ellen at the top of her class, and both got jobs nearby. I started working at a local building firm while Ellen stayed on at uni to do a doctorate which she completed in record time, and ended up getting a full time lecturer job. At around that time a new block of flats was getting built in the town centre and I put my name down for one. Once I moved in I was surprised and pleased to see Ellen had done the same and was staying only four doors down from me. We saw each other all the time and I regularly had dinner at her house and she at mine. I had several girlfriends during this time but Ellen stayed celibate. I even began to wonder if the rumours about her sexuality were true. However as I never saw any girls at her house either I came to the conclusion she was just busy at work and wasn't very interested in sex.
I enjoyed my work and soon began to make a name for myself. At 25 years old I was seen as an up and coming young architect in the firm. One day my boss came in to my office to see me.
"Allan, I have some news for you which you may or may not be interested in," he said. "The firm is thinking of opening up a new office in Canada, and we are looking for a couple of young architects to go over there to help get it started. Your name has come up and the M.D wants to know if you are interested. Now I don't want to lose you so I hope you saw no, but it could be a good opportunity for you. Have a think about it and let me know."
I sat there a bit taken aback. I had never really ventured too far from home, and Canada was a huge step. However career wise it might be a good move so I had to take the offer seriously. I had no girlfriend at the time so there was nothing really to keep me here.
I discussed the offer with my parent, who were supportive and said though they would miss me terribly they understood if I felt it was the right thing to do. Ellen had been such a good friend to me in the past that I wanted her opinion as well. That night I went round to her flat. We dropped in on each other all the time so this was not unusual. I rang the bell and in a second Ellen opened the door, revealing her familiar face.
I had to look down on her, as she is quite a short girl with shoulder length brunette hair, which she always wore up on top of her head. She also always wore her small half-rimless glasses with no makeup. However her face was still pretty in a "girl next door" way, especially when she smiled, like she did when she saw me standing there.
"Hi Allan," she said cheerily, "Come in I am just getting dinner, want some?"
"Thanks," I replied and followed her indoors, casually running my eyes up and down her body.
Ellen wore her normal sensible attire of smart, well cut trousers and thick high-necked jumper. I hadn't seen her in a skirt since our school days and she never wore low cut or tight tops, even though as far as I could see she was certainly not lacking in the chest department. Perhaps she was just too shy to make the most of her physical assets. Though she was perhaps a few pounds heavier than a woman should be according to the woman's magazines she was certainly not fat, and her backside looked pretty good even in her sombre trousers. None of this really registered with me however. This was just Ellen, my friend who I had known all my life, not really a "girl" at all, at least not in that sort of way.
We sat down to dinner (Ellen makes a great pasta), and made small talk about her work at the uni. Eventually she asked me about my work and I brought up the subject of Canada.
"Actually Ellen I was wanting to ask your opinion," I said. "I am leaning towards going, as it would be good for my career, but I would also be sad to leave here. What do you think?"
Ellen just sat there with a funny look on her face. Her face fell and I though of a split second she was going to cry. Then the look was gone and she smiled bravely.
"I think that would be a good move for your career," she said quietly. "We would all be sorry to see you go though. Life would be very strange without you, seeing how long we have known each other."
"I would miss you as well Ellen," I replied quizzically, surprised by her response. I had expected her to be more enthusiastic considering how much she had helped me get where I was career wise. "I haven't decided yet anyway so it might not even happen. I still have a lot of thinking to do."
I stayed another hour or so but the conversation was a bit strained, and that had never been the case with us before, we were always relaxed and easy in each other's company. I went home a bit surprised by Ellen's response, but not thinking too much more about it.
The next day I saw her as I was leaving for work, and she seemed back to her old self, if perhaps a little more edgy than usual.
"Hi Allan, sorry I was a bit distant last night," She said with a nervous little laugh. "Your news about Canada took me a bit by surprise. Why don't you come over again tonight and we can have a drink and discuss it again."
"Sure," I replied. "See you then."