The Situationship

I had to get away from everything I had ever known to really find myself. So, I decided to study abroad in Dublin. Little did I know that one of the most impactful people of my young adult life would enter the picture because of this decision. I was going to do more than simply visit the home of my ancestors. I was going to broaden my horizons. But I did not know that yet. That realization would only come after.

So, as I flew away from the airport, leaving my parents and the home, I had always known behind, the weight of everything started to sink in. I was really going to leave. I would be on my own. While that promised freedom, it also alluded to the potential for pain.

The taxi from the airport pulled off the street littered with embassies and mansions. And I started to realize that I was going to be living in luxury for the next few months. As the car halted on the gravel, three people rushed out of the house toward me. I stepped out of the vehicle, and one short, stout woman greeted me, “My name is Nancy O’Connell, and I am the director of the campus. You must be Jack Callahan.”

I shook hands while the other two, presumably employees on the campus, started to grab my bags out of the car. There was one guy immaculately dressed in a vest, tie, and suit pants. His hair was styled so that he had a slight spike to it, but nothing garish. The other person assisting me with my luggage was a girl in a beige summer dress. She had sandy blonde hair, pale blue eyes, dimples, and a cheery expression.

“That is Candace, and this is James,” Nancy mentioned as she ushered me toward the entrance once I paid the driver.

Inside the home, it looked like any house of considerable stature, decadent. I saw a study, a computer room, a common area, and even a small room with a pew dedicated to worship. Nancy mentioned a kitchen and laundry room downstairs too. But my room was on the third floor.

As I opened the door to my abode for the next four months, I could see that I would have my own desk and bed, but I also noticed there were two other beds in the room. If only ten students were staying here, then I guess that meant only three of us were boys since no one was allowed to have a private room. Otherwise, I would have only been in a double, not a triple room.

Strangely, I was the only person in the room. That must have meant I was the first to arrive or my new roommates were doing something else. Then, a knock at the door broke me out of my protracted analysis.

Beyond the doorway stood Candace, a paradox of cute and stylish. My gaze traced her from head to toe, and it occurred to me that beneath the spacious dress lay an athletic form. Her arms and face appeared devoid of any fat, a testament to her physical prowess.

“Hey there, how ya doin’? I just wanted to introduce myself and see how you were gettin’ settled. My name’s Candace, and James and I are gonna be your RAs for the semester.” Candace extended her hand.

I shook her hand, “Nice to meet you, Candace. And I was wondering where my roommates were. Surely, I am not the first one to get here?”

“You were actually the last one to get here out of ten. And another graduate student from the Italian campus took everyone to get phones and metro cards. I was actually gonna ask ya if ya wanted me to take ya to get ’em tomorrow mornin’.”

I could hear Candace’s accent clearly that time, despite only hearing it faintly when she first started to speak, “That would be great if you could help me with that. Also, hopefully, this is not intrusive, but I was wondering where you are from because of your accent?”

“I’m from Mystic, Connecticut. And I’ll get ya bright and early tomorrow, then. Make sure to bring swim trunks. I’ll let ya sleep now since ya might be jet-lagged, though.”

“Thanks,” I shut the door and almost immediately passed out on my twin-sized bed.

——————–

The following morning, I awoke to see my two roommates passed out, but since it was only a couple of minutes until Candace was set to get me, I figured I had no time to scope them out. I rummaged through my luggage to get new clothes for the day, then hastily threw them on.

Candace was at the door when I opened it, “I see somebody beat me to the punch, c’mon, we should get goin’.”

We tiptoed down the hall to avoid waking anyone up, but the creakiness of this old house made that difficult. Candace took me down to the basement and showed me the dining area and laundry room I had missed since I skipped the complete tour. While the laundry room was meek, with only two washers and dryers for ten people, the dining area was massive. There were two or three tables that could each seat ten easily. The only problem was that we had no stove or oven, which was apparently in an off-limits room. They apparently did not trust us to avoid burning the house down.

She brought me to a side door and handed me a key attached to a lanyard. “This is ya key to get into the house, don’t lose it. And always use this side door instead of the big front door. That one’s got all kinds of locks that are tricky.”

As we journeyed down the picturesque streets of Ballsbridge, the most expensive street in all of Dublin, I was struck by just how tranquil my temporary home was. The train station was mere blocks from our home and looked like the stereotype I envisioned from every Brit-drama I had ever seen. It was small and unassuming, with an arched bridge that let you cross from one side to the other. The train was only a few minutes away after Candace helped me get my metro card from the machine.

“Before we go to get ya phone set up for international calls, ya mind if we stop at the beach?”

“Sure. What beach are we going to?”

“Sandycove, it’s a bit smaller than the others but perfect for what I have planned. I like to take a dip in the ocean when it’s frigid every mornin’ ’cause of the health benefits.”

“Interesting. What health benefits?”

“All kinds, from helpin’ ya immune system to boostin’ ya circulation, to even improvin’ ya mood. It’s the little things that add up, ya know.”

The train screeched into the station. It looked more modern than what I was expecting, but my American preconception of Ireland was not great. My parents baked me some potatoes a few nights before my departure to expose me to what they thought the food would be like here. I guess they assumed everyone still lived on potatoes, which would have been laughable if I had not had to eat the bland dish that night.

We hopped on the train heading South. Once onboard, Candace grabbed us a booth since, unlike the trolly at home, this train had seating in groups of four facing each other rather than in groups of two facing the same direction. It was a subtle nod to how much more communal Ireland was than The United States.

I looked out the window to watch the landscape fly by as we exited the station, but Candace figured now was a good time to break the ice.

“So what made ya wanna come to Ireland?”

“I am Irish, but I guess I wanted to understand what that meant a bit better. So, since the school has a special program to come here, I figured I might as well utilize it. This study abroad deal was one of the reasons I chose to study at Holy Cross.”

“I see. Well, when I was in ya shoes, I thought I was Irish too. But now I understand I’m Irish-American, which is a big difference. Y’ll see that in time.”

“Yeah, sure,” I dismissed her. “So, I take it by your comment you went to Marygrove too?”

“For my undergrad. Now I’m at Trinity, where y’ll be goin’ for this semester.”

“What do you study?”

“Public Health,” Candace smiled warmly. “I know, big surprise, huh? Considerin’ the excursion we’re on.”

“Well, that explains the shape you are in,” I looked at her and blatantly checked her out from head to toe. This time, since she was in more form-fitting clothing, it was easy to see that she might not be muscular, but she was still trim. The plain tank top and boot-cut jeans still showed off a flattering figure.

“Whaddaya mean by that?”

“Just that you are hot. Feel free to take the compliment.”

“Ya shouldn’t comment on other people’s bodies, but I guess ya are what, twenty? When I was yer age, I said some pretty stupid stuff too. Plus, ya brain won’t be developed for at least four more years.”

“And what do you mean by that?”

“I hate to say it, but you’re being kind of immature. I mean, not to be sexist, but studies do show that guys’ brains tend to develop a bit slower than women’s, so maybe that’s what’s happening here.”

“Wow,” I feigned a chuckle. “You are being a bit blunt there for someone who hardly knows me.”

“I think ya were being a bit presumptuous, assuming I wanted to hear what ya thought about me physically, but I digress. Let’s just move past this.”

“Fair enough. Sorry I called you hot,” my voice was laced with sarcasm.

Candace’s eyebrows narrowed in anger, “Listen, I’m not trying to be a hard-ass or anything, but maybe just try not to do it again, okay?”

“Okay, mom.”

Candace gave up and stopped speaking to me for the remainder of the ride to the beach. Meanwhile, I watched the landscape change from Dublin suburbia to an inviting evergreen. One of the first things I noticed when my flight landed from Detroit was how short all the buildings were. There was no skyline, just urban sprawl for miles on end. It was a small-town feel in the big city, with nature in the corridor.

It was not too long until our stop when Candace signaled me to get up. I immediately saw the shore once we got off at the train station. I had never been so close to the ocean in my entire life, and the added wind was a surprise. The closer you were to shore, the windier it got.

As we made our way down through the small town to the area Candace usually did her morning dive, I saw a man with a bright red beard and yoga mat in his hand wave toward us.

Candace commanded me without so much as looking at me, “Just go wit’ what I do next.”

Candace took my hand in hers. As the man approached, she beamed, “Hey, Niall, great to see ya.”