Table For Two

12 - Harvey

This is not how I saw today going. But I am glad it did. Sometimes I forget how lonely I can be. Even though it is pretty deliberate a lot of the time. I've tried to just be invisible for the most part this week while everyone else has been going out and partying. That date was the first time I had really done anything other than classes or watching random films on Netflix and that went about as well as a volcanic eruption. This was good though... even if Ali was a slightly carefree driver. And by carefree I mean in the "holy shit why did I get in the car with this lunatic I am going to definitely die in a fireball" way.

We go to Mr B's and I pick up my course books. Ali wasn't kidding about having to pull him away from things. After I paid, I looked around to see him absolutely mesmerised by the fantasy fiction section and all the covers that were really pretty in all fairness. I went up and tapped him on the shoulder and he just looked round like he'd fallen in love and said "they're all so pretty". Great, I'm hanging out with the unholy combination of Colin McRae and Gollum. But I still laugh at him and his protestations when I pull him away and out the door. As if determined to tempt fate, we end up in Waterstones, Toppings and Paperchase. In the last one, we both end up spending money though - they have a specific type of needle point pen in there which I really like writing with and Ali picked up a new Moleskine notebook. I ask why and he pulls one out of his right front pocket, this one with a light blue cover as opposed to the new one's red, and shows that it is nearly full.

"I like having something on me to write things down in as soon as I think of them. That way I never forget any ideas."

I can understand that. We leave the shop and head down to the weir and walk along the river a bit before deciding to go into the gardens there for a bit. It's a nice enough day so we just sit and chat absently about random things that pop into our heads and just generally lie back and bathe in the warmth of the sun. It's not exactly the height of summer anymore but the heat of the midday weather is pleasant and Ali has pulled a little speaker that looks like a mini guitar amp from his backpack and started playing a relaxing playlist of some kind - its Lo-Fi and I sigh contentedly. This is turning out to be a really good day.

We stay in the gardens probably longer than we should. I ask Ali about the cost of parking and he just shrugs and waves it off saying it'll be fine. I'm not convinced but he seems sure of it. At some points, even halfway through a sentence when we are talking, he'll suddenly stop and pull out his notebook to write something down. It's jarring but also clearly something he is used to doing so I don't interrupt him. Instead I just watch him as he does - notice the concentration on his face, furrowing his brow and occasionally his tongue pokes out because he's lost on the right word to put down on the page. But the moment he finishes he goes right back to being the same Ali I'd seen all day; laidback and easy-going. It's a quirk and I think it is really cute and I don't know why I find it cute. I mean... he is objectively cute. But I doubt he'd even be interested. I ignore that whirl of doubt and anxiety because that is just a helter-skelter leading to hell if I start going down it. I look at my phone and see it's getting on for four in the afternoon. We've been here for hours.

"Uhh... do you think we should get going?"

"Hm?"

Ali looks up at me as if waking up from a daydream.

"We've basically been in town all day."

"True enough, I guess. Did you want to get food?"

"What?"

"Y'know. Food, sustenance, eating. We did it earlier."

"I mean... I guess, I just don't want you to end up paying a ridiculous amount for parking."

"It's not like I have to worry about parking here every day. I usually leave the car at home and walk. And I have a permit for parking at uni. This is really a one-off occasion."

"But... then why didn't you leave your car at yours and we both walk?"

"Well I could make the usual 'I am not showing you where I live. You could be an axe murderer' joke but to be perfectly honest, I'm still hungover and wasn't thinking about it all that much so I just parked in town."

"Wow. You weren't kidding about bad hangovers were you."

"Nope. But food makes it better and there's a place nearby that does tapas if you don't want a full meal."

"Do they do burgers?"

Ali just laughs to himself. More of a giggle. Why is everything about him so damn cute?

"Yeah, they do burgers."