My Side

My Side

I think the really big winner that season was probably my mobile phone company. I knew straight away I was crazy about Victoria. I found myself thinking about how and when I could be with her during most of the day we were apart. No sooner had we met, she’d had to jet off to America with the Spice Girls. We spent hour after hour talking and the bills got scarier and scarier. But they were the best investment I’ve ever made. The couple of times we’d actually been face to face, I’d felt so nervous it took my breath away. It’s strange how different it was on the phone. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to be telling this amazing woman all about my life-and my feelings -and listening to her do the same. By the time she got back to England, it felt as if we really knew each other. We started to find out, as well, what we were going to mean to each other. Whatever the phone company had made out of it, it seemed like a bargain.

The florists¹ didn’t do too badly out of me, either. I sent flowers to each new hotel Victoria booked into and a single red rose every day for the best part of a month. I couldn’t wait for her to come home. I think perhaps people have this idea that our life together must always have been 1)glamorous² parties: stars, luxuries, photo opportunities. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Having the time together was all that mattered.

The first date had been about driving around, getting thrown out of a Chinese, and sitting on a friend’s sofa. Our second evening out was just as low-key as the first. We arranged to meet up in another pub car park -that’s how stylish³ we were -- this one called City Limits. A strange thing happened on the way there. I stopped at a petrol station and went in to buy some chewing gum. Just as I was pulling out of the forecourt, I saw Victoria arrive, jump out and do the same thing. Fresh breath, or something to steady the nerves? Both probably. I drove on to City Limits and parked.

When Victoria arrived, I jumped out, went over to her MG and got in beside her. For such a little car, I remember there was a big gap between the driver’s and front passenger’s seats. We didn’t go anywhere. We talked. And we kissed, for the first time. I had a cut on my finger from training. Victoria reached across me to the glove compartment⁴ and pulled out this 2)sprig of a plant, 3)Aloe Vera.

“It’ll heal you.”

She rubbed it on the cut and then gave it to me. I must have told her about getting hurt on the phone and she’d brought it along. I remember, a week or two later, looking in my fridge and seeing this Aloe Vera plant, starting to decompose⁵ in a bag on the shelf. By then, whatever magic it contained had already done its job. At the end of that evening in the car park at City Limits, I felt like at least a year’s worth of dreams had come true.

I went mad the next day and had a Prada handbag delivered to Victoria at her mum’s house. It’s amazing what you find out in a Smash⁶ Hits’Likes and Dislikes feature. I still try and send gifts like that now: it’s a strange thing to me. If you love someone, you want to treat them, surprise them, remind them how you feel, whether that means a weekend away somewhere, or a bowl of fruit in the morning laid out in the shape of a heart.

注释:
1) glamorous [5^lAmErEs] a. 迷人的；有吸引力的
2) sprig [spri^] n. 嫩枝，小树枝
3) Aloe Vera [5AlEu, 5vi:rE] n. 芦荟

我的立场

我想那个赛季真正的大赢家或许就是我的手机运营商了。我很快意识到：我已经为维多利亚感到疯狂了。我发现在我们分开的日子里，我每天都在想着什么时候和怎样才能和她在一起。我们刚见过，她就要与其他辣妹飞到美国去了。我们整小时整小时地通话，帐单也变得越来越可怕。但这是我曾有过的最值得的投资了。有几次我们在面对面的时候，我紧张得几乎不能呼吸了。真奇怪，在电话里交谈就完全不同了。把我的一切生活--以及我的感受--告诉这个迷人的女人，听她谈论这些事，看起来就像是世界上最自然不过的事情。等她返回英国时，我们感觉彼此已经非常了解。我们开始寻找答案，我们对对方都意味着什么。我们频繁通话，手机公司还以为我们在谈一宗大交易呢，随它怎么去想吧。
花店老板也从我这儿得了不少好处。我给维多利亚预定的每一家宾馆送去鲜花，每个月的大部分日子里每天送一枝红玫瑰。我没法等到她回来。也许人们认为我们在一起的生活应该是充满着迷人的晚会的：明星、奢侈、闪光灯。这是何等的误解！能够有时间在一起才是最重要的。
第一次约会以开车兜风、被一个中国老板娘赶出来、坐在朋友的沙发上而告终。第二次约会也同样低调。我们约定在另一家叫“城市边界”的酒吧的停车场见面，够时髦吧？路上发生了一件奇妙的事。我把车停在一个加油站，然后去买口香糖，正当我准备开车离开前院的时候，我看到维多利亚也来了。她下了车，做跟我同样的事情。她这是呼吸点新鲜空气，还是来点什么稳定住神经？都有可能。我把车开到“城市边界”，停好了车。
等到维多利亚到达时，我下了车，走向她的MG，坐进她旁边的座位。我记得就是那么一辆小车，可它的驾驶座与副驾驶座之间却有那样大的间隔。我们哪儿也没有去，只是交谈。我们还接吻了，是第一次。在训练中，我的手指划破了，维多利亚把手伸到我这边放手套的小隔间里，拿出一种植物的小枝条，这是一种芦荟一类的植物。
“它将治好你的伤。”
她用小枝条在伤口上揉搓，然后递给我。我肯定是在电话里告诉过她关于我受伤的事，她就把它带来了。我记得，一两周以后，我在冰箱里看到了被装在袋子里搁在架子上的芦荟已经开始腐烂。那时候这种植物所包含的魔力已经完成了它的使命。在“城市边界”酒吧停车场的那个晚上，我最终感觉到，至少是憧憬了整整一年的梦想开始成真。
第二天我开始发疯了。我订了一个Prada的提包送到维多利亚的父母家里。令人惊奇的是，我居然能够在流行一时的东西里发现喜欢和不喜欢的特色。我现在仍然会送那样的礼物，这在我看来是一件很奇怪的事。如果你爱某人，你就想好好待他们，给他们惊喜，让他们知道你的感受，不管那是不是意味着周末一起出游，或者是在早晨捧上一盘堆成心形的水果。

1 florists   

n.花商，花农，花卉研究者( florist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The little dressmaker bought an envelope of nasturtium seeds at the florists. 那个个子矮小的女裁缝在花铺里买了一包金莲花种子。 来自辞典例句
• I have more important things to do than petulant florists. 我有比教训坏脾气的花匠更重要的事情要做。 来自互联网

2 glamorous   

adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的

参考例句：

• The south coast is less glamorous but full of clean and attractive hotels.南海岸魅力稍逊，但却有很多干净漂亮的宾馆。
• It is hard work and not a glamorous job as portrayed by the media.这是份苦差，并非像媒体描绘的那般令人向往。

3 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。

4 compartment   

n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间

参考例句：

• We were glad to have the whole compartment to ourselves.真高兴，整个客车隔间由我们独享。
• The batteries are safely enclosed in a watertight compartment.电池被安全地置于一个防水的隔间里。

5 decompose   

vi.分解；vt.（使）腐败，（使）腐烂

参考例句：

• The eggs began to decompose after a day in the sun.鸡蛋在太阳下放了一天后开始变坏。
• Most animals decompose very quickly after death.大多数动物死后很快腐烂。

6 smash   

v.粉碎，打碎；n.轰动的演出，巨大的成功

参考例句：

• We heard the smash of plates breaking in the kitchen.我们听到厨房里盘子破碎的声音。
• The gifted author wrote one smash after another.这个天才作家创作了一篇又一篇轰动一时的作品。