November 2, 2005 - Phil's Surprise
I got back to my house around midnight. I got my mom to call Phil and tell him that I would call around midnight too ensure that he thought that I was in Paris. Midnight would be 6 am in Paris. I thought of this while waiting in the airport and I had already called Phil telling him my cell phone was broken. So anyway, Phil had been out a bar with his friends at school who were trying to get him to stay out late, that way he wouldn’t go to work the next day. I screwed up the original plan by telling Phil to call me at midnight.
I called Phil and we talked for a while. He was worried about wasting my minutes, but I told him that I just got a brand new calling card and it was fine. I waited a few minutes after our phone call and signed online to read my mail and chat on AIM. Unfortunately, I signed on too quick and Phil hadn’t gone to sleep yet. I told him that I found an Internet connection in my room. I got to talk to Steve and Matt and told them that I was home. Steve had already known for about 10 days when I first bought the ticket.
I went to sleep and woke up the next day around 8 am. I felt really energized even though I really didn’t sleep much. I got my stuff ready and had lunch with my dad. I know that my parents would have liked me to be at home more during the break; I felt bad that I was about to leave when I had just arrived. I knew that I had to get on the road because if I hit any delays, I would miss going to lunch with Phil. I packed up my car and went to start it. Nothing. Then I realized that I didn’t have a clock on my dashboard. My battery had gone dead. Luckily, my dad hadn’t gone to the first aid squad yet and he jumped my car for me. I wanted to stop into my mom’s work before I left, so I drove up to her building and flashed my lights until she came out. I couldn’t turn off my car, so I just visited her for a few minutes. Figuring that I would have a problem, I went to Sears to have them check out my battery and see if I needed a new one.
About an hour and a half later, I was on my way. I had turned my American cell phone on earlier that day so I could call Phil when I got to his work. Mark had called me while I was on my way. He was the ringleader at Rutgers trying to get Phil to stay out and drink all night. I finally got to his work around 2:30. Not really so great with timing since he already had lunch. I pulled into the parking lot and made sure that his car was there. I parked behind an SUV that way he wouldn’t be able to see my car. I walked up to his building and called him on my cell phone. I had my fingers crossed that he hadn’t put it on silent. He picked up.
“Hey. Why are you using your American cell phone?”
“Because I’m outside.”
“Nah, don’t joke around.”
“I’m not joking, I’m outside. Come outside and see.”
I could hear him running down the stairs on his cell phone. I was grinning from ear to ear during the entire phone conversation.
“Where are you?”
“I’m out here.” Just as I was saying that, another woman walked into the building.
“I don’t see you.”
“Look to your right when you come outside.”
As I finished saying outside, Phil opened the doors and saw me. The look on his face was worth all of the hours of travel it took to see him. The look was a mix between confusion, surprise and happiness. I know I’ll never be able to surprise him like that again but it was wonderful. He gave me the biggest hug and it felt like he was never going to let go. It was so incredible. I can’t tell you how happy I was to finally see him.
We spent the entire week traveling back and forth from his family to my family and stopping in New Brunswick. That entire week of seeing family and friends and especially Phil would take me forever to recount and rewrite. I think it made my year just being able to see everyone. I would have loved to spend more time at home. I would have given anything for just a few more minutes with Phil by my side, or talking to my parents in person, or one night at Steve’s just hanging out. I guess that’s what December is for.