Dating Winter

Late Lewis

The Christmas spirit was supposedly here. Town was really busy. People were absolutely everywhere, wearing woolly hats, scarves and trendy coats that kept out the surprisingly chilly air. Global warming hadn't quite kicked in yet in my part of England, or so it seemed.

James had said he'd meet me outside the cathedral at about eleven and, as usual, I was running late, though this time through no fault of my own. To make matters worse, my phone had run out of juice and I had no way of contacting him. My hair gel had stuck a hair-lick in the front of my freshly washed hair. The icy cold had caught it before it dried so I had to lick my hand and press my hair down to try and make it less conspicuous.

I'd caught the bus but that was a mistake as the usual route had changed due to an overturned lorry. The debris was spread all over the place and traffic was backed up in both directions. Eventually we pulled up at the station and I ensured that I was first out of the bus door.

I wanted to stay cool but flipped between fast walking and sprinting whenever I spotted a gap in the shoppers. I was ducking and diving and the only bonus was that I was starting to get warm.

Me and James had things to sort out. The bro code wasn't forgiving of latecomers. I didn't want to owe him anything. Despite it happening a lot, I HATED being late for stuff. I don't know why, but I just couldn't handle timetables or deadlines or anything that required being in a certain place at a certain time.

Luckily, when I found him he was fully entertained watching a street performer who was juggling knives. From what I could see, he was a fairly daring juggler, somehow keeping three enormous blades twirling in the air, without one going rogue and hitting a bystander. Quite a crowd had gathered but James had front row tickets, perched on the bench right next to the juggler, with his camera out, probably grabbing videos he could use on TikTok or something.

"Hey, what time dya call this?" he yelled at me, sounding narky. The look he gave me was clear disappointment.
I had let him down, again.
"Seems like you found stuff to do," I said, trying to put a positive spin on things, as he peeled away from the onlookers and joined me next to the fountain.
His eyebrow spoke for him, forming a disapproving mono row for a moment.
"Thought we were shopping for games."
"Let's go then. Bloody bus got stuck as a lorry spilled its load on the way."
He sniggered. "Spilled your load more like, bro." He had a much cruder way of looking at stuff than me.
OK. We were fine now. He wasn't going to make me feel like crap.

I noticed how well-decorated the town was this year. Every lamppost had a frosting on top and a hanging bauble or something dangling from it. Fake plastic trees were spaced out along the Main Street and a Christmas market had sprung up, much bigger than I remember in previous times. We were heading towards a game shop when James asked me to take a snap of him by one of the trees. He nicked a hanging candy and held it up like mistletoe and put on one of his cheesiest grins.
"Get a good one for my Insta," he said, trying to strike an artistic pose. It reminded me of a thirst trap. He was imagining a hot girl snogging him under that tree and people passing by seemed amused by his boldness.

I must admit, for a nerd, James sure looked after himself. It reminded me that I hadn't done an exercise for days.

Not being able to get the right angle, I edged back. I was trying to look upwards to take in all of the tree. The shoppers passing by were noisy and unforgiving. It was hard to get a picture without somebody walking into shot. James wouldn't be pleased if he had to share the frame.

"I look better from the right," he said and I sidestepped slightly.
As I did so I felt something squash beneath my foot. The whole weight of me had transferred onto it before I realised that what I'd trodden on belonged to a stranger.

"Aaaargh!" came a high-piercing scream which nearly exploded my ear drums. A slap in the face was enough to remind me to remove my foot right away and recoil in embarrassment.