Harry is a number-cruncher. Charlie is a people-person. One is bubbly and optimistic, the other serious and pessimistic. With an endless stream of verbal sparring and heated debates filling the car on their road trip from Vancouver to Toronto, they arrive at the conclusion they are complete opposites and go their separate ways. When they meet years later – older, wiser, and love-worn – will their sparring become a prelude to romance? An exciting turn on? Will they be there for each other when it’s needed most?
Boys’ Love + Nora Ephron Fan Fiction = When Harry Met Charlie
“Fun, funny and wonderfully delightful! Reminds you of experiencing your first crush – I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough!” – Leeanne Whitehouse, Pure Country Morning Host
It’s 1977. Harry Burns has just graduated from law school on the West Coast and is standing at the window of his third-story dorm watching for the arrival of his ride to Toronto. He crosses his arms and drums his fingers impatiently.
Behind him, Harry’s friend and dorm mate Rufus is vigorously kissing his girlfriend, Sally. They’re sighing and murmuring to each other. Oh, I’m going to miss you so much. I love you. Will we ever see each other again? Kiss me again. Harry rolls his eyes.
Out the window, Harry spots a VW Beetle pulling up to the curb across the campus green. Rays from the rising sun glint off the car roof. He pushes his glasses up his nose and shouts, “Ride’s here, Rufus.”
Harry slings his backpack over one shoulder and wedges a heavy box of textbooks under his arm, then grabs his suitcase with his other hand. Why couldn’t someone invent luggage with wheels? Struggling to carry all his gear, Harry loses patience with the couple’s sloppy sweet-nothings and shoves Rufus’ arm none too gently, dislodging him from the embrace. “C’mon. Let’s go!”
“Bye, sweet-ums!” Rufus gives Sally one last smooch. “I’ll call as soon as I get there.” He stares longingly into her eyes and blows her a kiss, then snatches up his duffel and follows Harry down the stairs.
Harry stops as they reach the VW, taking in the vomit-green color, which reminds him of the nauseating flight he took from Toronto when he moved west to start university. He’s in no hurry to repeat that experience. A two-day nonstop road trip is the lesser of two evils.
He eyes the car’s thick rust and immediately wonders if the car will make it all the way across the country. With two unknowns—the driver he’s never met and the state of the car—his anxiety increases. Why hadn’t he been more prepared, done more research? Am I going to regret this?
A young man gets out of the VW, and Rufus, the common denominator, makes the introductions.
“Charlie, this is Harry, my roommate here in Vancouver and my pal growing up in small-town Ontario. Harry, meet Charlie, my friend from karaoke. That’s where Charlie told me he was headed to Toronto, like you, and why I suggested you ride together.”
I don’t know what I was expecting, but it isn’t this. Shouldn’t a future flight attendant be clean-cut and well groomed? Instead, Charlie has the appearance of a furry teddy bear. Even his forearms, visible below the short sleeves of his Oscar Wilde T-shirt, are bushy. His faded bellbottoms are a little too tight. Is that the start of a pot belly? Don’t flight attendants have weight restrictions? He extends his hand to Charlie for a handshake.
As Charlie settles behind the wheel of the Beetle, Harry places his suitcase and textbooks on the back floor behind the passenger seat. A Coleman thermos and small picnic cooler already take up the floor space on the driver’s side. Harry folds his long frame onto the rear seat beside Charlie’s nineteen-inch Electrohome TV, complete with rabbit ears. The only place for his feet is atop the box of his books. He squeezes his knees together and holds his backpack on his lap. It’s only a short drive to the airport. I can manage.
Rufus jumps into the front passenger seat. The bud vase on the dash holding a single daisy catches his attention, and he flashes a peace sign at Charlie. “Cool!”
“I knew you’d like it,” Charlie says, beaming a hundred-watt smile. He grabs an imaginary microphone. “Good morning, ladies, ahem, gentlemen. Welcome aboard Flight 2B with service from Vancouver to Toronto, with a short layover at the airport. We expect to be on the road for approximately forty-eight hours. Please fasten your seatbelts and stow your baggage. Please note there are two exits.” Charlie points at the car doors, then adds, “Thank you for choosing Charlie’s VW Air.”
Harry rolls his eyes and wonders if he’ll have to put up with aviation demonstrations every time Charlie takes the wheel.
Maybe flying would have been a better option?
Too late now.
Donna Costa draws on her love of romance, both novels and movies, plus her years in the aviation industry for When Harry Met Charlie. She writes in a variety of genres including YA, memoir, romance, and historical fiction. She lives in London, Ontario.
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