Last Weekend
Friday, 5:00pm. I close my work laptop and grab my backpack, making sure I have everything. Toiletries, clothes, phone charger, check. Quickly, I move out the door. My train leaves at 6, but I should be able to make it comfortably as long as I have no delays.
My plan is to make it to Toronto for Friday night and spend Saturday with Not A N*rd, then spend Family Day weekend in Niagara celebrating my brother's birthday, before returning to Montreal on Monday night.
Friday, 6:00pm. My train leaves Gare Central. Good timing, I think. This trip is five hours long. I’ll make it to Toronto by 11, and I’ll be able to meet Not A N*rd today, if only with a few minutes to spare.
Friday, 8:00pm. The birthday party is officially called off. My family doesn't want to be out on the roads Saturday or Sunday, which means I need a second Airbnb in Toronto. I book it on the train.
Saturday, 12:30am. My train pulls into Union Station, delayed by an hour and a half. I check the address of our Airbnb, looking for the quickest route by subway. There must be a quick subway route, right?
Saturday, 12:40am. I step outside to begin walking to the Airbnb. It is -15, and feels colder.
Saturday, 12:45am. I am almost hit by a car.
Saturday, 12:50am. I am yelled at by a stranger I try to pass on the street.
Saturday, 12:55am. I catch a young woman in a dress and heels who nearly wipes out trying to climb a snow mound while crossing the street.
Saturday, 1:05am. I am almost hit by another car.
Saturday, 1:10am. I reach the Airbnb. Not A N*rd greets me, grateful I didn’t show up at the wrong hotel this time. (It wasn’t my fault. Long story.)
~
Saturday, 5:25pm. We anxiously check the time. The AGO closes in 15 minutes, and the storm seems to be picking up. We’re hesitant to wait too long to leave, lest they cancel our train and we’re stuck in Toronto. We realize we should pick up food, in case we can’t leave our Airbnb on Sunday at all.
Saturday, 5:40pm. We’re at the grocery store. We accidentally cut the checkout line. The cashier is very passive-aggressive about it. We purchase a premade chicken dinner for lunch tomorrow while the whole store glares at us.
Saturday, 6:15pm. We miss our GO train to Mississauga and go get lunch at the Union food court.
Saturday, 6:45pm. We spend so much time interrogating my taste in perogies that we miss a second GO train to Mississauga.
Saturday, 7:05pm. We arrive at Long Branch GO. I confidently claim that the buses can take us to Airbnb number two in ten minutes. I pull out my phone to verify. The bus ride is actually 45 minutes. I zoom out on Google Maps. We actually got off at Mimico.
We order an Uber.
Saturday, 7:15pm. Our Uber driver misses a lane change on the highway. Undeterred, he makes an illegal merge through a snow bank during a blizzard. I see my life flash before my eyes.
Saturday, 7:25pm. We step out of the Uber in front of Airbnb number two. It pulls further into the street to try and turn around. Not A N*rd pats her jacket and asks if I can call her phone. I remember that her phone case holds her debit card and ID. I see her life flash before my eyes.
We frantically wave down the Uber driver to stop as he comes back around. We search the backseat and find nothing. We’re about to tell him to keep going when we spot it on the ground, in the middle of the road. If the car had driven on, it would have run over the phone.
Saturday, 7:30pm. We take a nap.
Saturday, 11:00pm. Waking from the nap, Not A N*rd asks if we remembered to put the chicken in the fridge.
Sunday, 11:30am. We share a gourmet lunch of one apple each and a bag of baby carrots to split.
~
Monday, 10:00am. I leave the Airbnb. Not A N*rd left the day earlier, and now I need to get to Union for a 3:15pm train to Montreal.
Monday, 1:00pm. My train to Montreal is cancelled without replacement. Fuck.
Monday, 2:30pm. With the roads mostly clear, I am finally picked up by my aunt in Burlington.
Monday, 4:00pm. Before I showed up, they were planning to see the new Captain America movie. I come along with them. The ticket cost $20. The movie was bad.
~
Tuesday, 8:30am. I arrive at Aldershot GO. My VIA to Montreal is only at 3:15, but I don't entirely trust I'll be able to get a non-delayed train to Union. I miss the 8:25 train, and resolve to wait until 8:55.
Tuesday, 8:35am. I get on the 7:55 train, which was delayed until just now.
Tuesday, 2:25pm. I arrive back in Union Station, after spending some hours downtown killing time. I make my way to the VIA concourse. After all, we could start boarding any minute.
Tuesday, 2:30pm. A freight train derails in Dorval, along the Windsor-Quebec corridor.
Tuesday, 7:00pm. I board a train to Montreal, four hours late. Well, really, it's 28 hours late, but who's counting?
Wednesday, 1:30am. I arrive in Dorval, one stop away from downtown Montreal. The woman on the intercom says that the train ahead of us is stuck because of a frozen switch. She gives us the chance to get off the train and arrange our own rides home. Everyone around me takes this offer immediately.
Wednesday, 1:40am. My Uber driver arrives. I step into the backseat. I see he has taped a tablet to the back of his seat, on which he is playing The Godfather (1973) for me to watch. I decide I’m too tired to ask any questions.
Wednesday, 2:00am. I finally unlock my front door and collapse on my bed.
~
Wednesday, 7:45am. My alarm goes off. I groan, then slowly get up to go to work.