He looked ridiculous. There was no other way to describe him. He grinned as I shook my head and carefully took the $50 top hat off his head.
“Everything is way too expensive here to play with.” I cautioned responsibly, carefully squeezing between glass cabinets. I froze when I came across a glass sculpture snarling at me, the dragon’s eyes bright topaz.
“Where did you find this place?” I asked, ignoring the urge to run my finger along the dragon’s tail.
“I donno- after work I wandered around town by myself because someone was too busy to play.”
“I was helping my mum!” I replied indignantly, I turned around to meet his mischievous eyes, “did you just say play?! How old are you again?”
“You lined up for face painting at the fair.”
“…It was free.” I mumbled, blushing.
“And they almost ran out of paint because you wanted the tiger.”
“All dates shall be christened playdates till further notice.”
“Excellent proposal!”
I grumbled under my breath and walked behind a carved wooden wardrobe, poking out my tongue to the different dimensions of me from the surrounding mirrors. I giggled, the most girly sound to ever come out of my mouth.
Shaun curled around the cupboards edge, bending down to open a draw. He was short, though lanky, his hair was giving up the warfront and retreating early. He had two huge tattoos on the back of his shoulders, mostly hidden thanks to my suggestion of t-shirts over singlets filled with holes. He had stories that made me gasp in wonder and cringe alike, the other, darker side of our coin. I was taller with a bigger build, light blue eyes to his brown. We were so different, yet we enjoyed each other’s’ company greatly. My mother didn’t under understand why I liked him – why I had gone on that date so many months ago. And still doesn’t.
He called me his light in a dark place, and he was my confidant, my joy.
“Hey Janna, look at this!” He held up a small crystal, uncut from the rock. Light flowed over and sighed over the green gem.
“It’s beautiful.” I breathed, smiling down at it in his hands. He turned it over and the price made him gingerly place it carefully back into the draw.
“And worth more than my soul.”
We looked at each other and laughed like high-school kids who had stuck chewing gum under the table.
“Where do they find this stuff?”
Shaun poshly twirled an expensive looking pocket watch, pretending to smoke a cigar. “Donno.”
“And here I thought you had dropped the habit.”
“Madam, I assure you I only smoke the air-smokes you see here.” He carefully placed the watch back on the dressing table.
We walked throughout the whole shop, showing each other old gadgets and bubals neither of us could afford in this lifetime. But that didn’t matter. It was fun to frighten each other as we rounded corners, or show off something we had found. We spent the whole afternoon basking in the presence of objects we wouldn’t find just anywhere.
“I must be off!” I cried dramatically, standing in front of a very large wooden wardrobe.
“To where?” He asked, snaking around grandfather armchairs to my location.
“It’s very important and secret.” I replied loftily.
“Whisper it in my ear and I won’t tell a soul.” He vowed.
I curled my finger and he scuttled closer, a gleam in his eyes matching my own. He hovered closer, allowing me to press my lips to his ear.
“I’M OFF TO NANIA!” I shouted, laughing when he jumped. I opened the doors of the massive wardrobe, carefully making sure they wouldn’t swing and hit anything.
He recovered, rubbing his ears, “should have seen that coming.” He mused, “bring me a souvenir, I expect great feats of courage.”
I quickly shut the doors, ruse over. “I think I shouted too loud.” I whispered.
“I think so as well.” He whispered back, “maybe we should go get icecream.”
I nodded and he tried to pull me from the store, unable to stop me waving cheerfully at the grumpy storeowner as we left.
-oOo-
We sat on the sidewalk eating icecream. I disliked crowded spaces, so he had chosen to watch the cars stream by like a never-ending multi-coloured ribbon.
He licked his fingers and turned to look at me, his eyes soft when I screwed up my nose at his behaviour and passed him a serviette.
He took a long, shaky breath, wiping his fingers “listen I…” He broke off and laughed, his tense body slowly loosening.
“Janna, you have icecream on your nose.”
“No I-” he dabbed my nose with the serviette, showing me the rainbow liquid. “Oh.” I rubbed my nose and looked beseechingly at him.
“What were you saying?” I glanced at my watch and blanched, jumping to my feet. “Shit! Is it really important?”
He shook his head and I bent down to kiss him, enjoying the soft touch of his lips on mine. We lingered there a moment longer, opening our eyes to meet in the middle.
“I love you Janna.” He said softly, “I don’t want to scare you away. But I do.”
I breathed in, ignoring the panic flaring up in my bones. “You know I find it hard to settle.”
“I know. But I hope you settle one day with me.”
I smiled and dashed for the bus stop, changing my mind and running back as he slowly climbed to his feet.
I kissed him quickly, running a finger down his cheek “me too,” I whispered before running for the bus.
~people always make the guy have commitment issues. But sometimes, it's the girl. We always write deep pieces, it was nice to write something sweet.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
