A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

Chapter XXV: Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)

Angus opened his groggy eyes. I beamed back at him from my crouched position on the floor. He blinked and ran a hand over his face. "Mornin'."

"Happy birthday," I said glowing. He managed a smile and yawned. He had thrown his shirt across the room the night before and it hung comically on top of the closet door. 

"Thanks," he murmured, yawning again. Pushing his hair away from his face he finally gave me a steady gaze. "What's my present?"

"This," I said holding up a cold bottle of Coke. He took it from me and sat up. "And this." I held up a bottle opener. After cracking it open and taking a few sips he seemed to wake up a bit. 

"Not bad," he said. "Not bad at all."

"Do you feel thirty?" I asked. Angus sat there for a minute making absolutely sure.

"No," he said, poking and prodding himself. He patted his cheeks a few times. "Nah, I still feel eighteen." He took a long drink and looked at me. "Nice necklace." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. I looked down to see my Scotland pendant dangling from my neck. "A gift, was it?"

"Yeah," I said. "A really handsome guy gave it to me a few years ago." Angus smiled. 

"I'll bet, a lovely woman such as yourself." I got into bed next to him and snuggled into him as he wrapped his arm around me. "So what did ya' want to do today?"

**********

We walked hand in hand down the street toward the chocolate and lolly shop. Cars buzzed and beeped this way and that and we ran across the street to avoid them. A flock of birds pecking around at the front of the store scattered in all directions at our approach. We stumbled inside and gazed around us in awe.

Well, I did, anyway.

Lollies everywhere. Canisters hanging on the walls filled with lollies of all colours of the rainbow. All you had to do was turn the gold crank at the bottom and they would come pouring out. Some containers filled with candy were set out in the middle of the room, each one with its own scoop you could use to pour candy in little bags. And the saltwater taffy....I'd be needing a large bag of that. Three huge shelves stood off to one corner of the room. Bars and bars of all kinds of chocolates as far as my eyes could see. 

Angus must have seen these kinds of places before because it didn't seem to faze him as it fazed me. "What?" he asked as I looked at him. 

"You don't look impressed," I said. He smiled.

"Not much different than my childhood bedroom," he said. "Come on, I'll show you where the good stuff is."

He led me to the chocolate aisle and started grabbing bars. I found a collection of dark chocolate and loaded up. I had only tasted European chocolates a couple times in my life and I knew it was superior. Together we scoured the shelves, filling up several bags of whatever lollies we wanted. I got plenty of saltwater taffy, something I thought I could only get at Bondi Beach back home. Soon enough we had bags and bags of treats. The man behind the counter looked around the floor for any small children we might have brought along with us.

No, it was just us.

**********

After taking a quick cab to the rental house we stored our lollies and chocolates in the fridge before heading back to town again. Our next stop was the library, of course, where we crept between shelves in search of good books. Renting books wasn't an option for us so we stuck with reading a few pages or keeping tabs on promising titles to find back home. 

In a little corner upstairs were two large red chairs in the shape of hands. I climbed onto one, making sure to keep quiet. There were people reading and studying. Angus found me and took the other chair, both of us feeling extra tiny in the palms of these giant hands. Our feet swung back and forth unable to touch the floor. We got the giggles and had to leave as nearby occupants started giving us those looks.