Something Like Fun

I looked at my watch and groaned. ‘Seriously?’ I thought to myself in the most disdainful of tones. As usual, I had left home earlier then necessary so that when I would get lost/miss my exit/take a wrong turn/forget something and have to go back, I would still have adequate time and would therefore not show up late. Unusual, however, was my complete lack of setbacks on this particular trek. So, now I had forty-five minutes in which to somehow occupy myself before my 2 o’clock rendez-vous with Ville. Here’s hoping I wouldn’t over-distract myself and then show up late.

Standing in front of the shop, it seemed kind of bizarre to me to go inside and get a cup when I would just be doing later. And hell, just who was I kidding, that cup would go through me in a heartbeat and I'd only be embarrassed beyond reason when I would then have to excuse myself from Ville's presence five minutes after his arrival. It was the one thing I hated about my medicine: it made me more thirsty than I normally was, and as such, I had to pee more. So silly, indeed.

I looked around to see what other possible distractions there were. A barbershop next door-lovely, like I really needed to get my hair cut. A pharmacy. A post office. I sighed. Nothing of interest. I turned my head in the other direction. Nothing, nothing, nothing,WAIT. I leaned back to see further down the street. Nothing, nothing, what was it I'd been trying to see? Nothing, BOOKSTORE! At this sudden joyous moment, I proceeded to lose my balance. Catching myself, I sighed in relief as I saw a nasty puddle directly behind me. That was one thing I didn't need to fall into alright. Especially right before meeting with Ville. At this thought I nearly lost my balance again. Recovering, I hurried onwards to the store. This would be a good calmer down for me.

A bell jingled on the door as I walked in. It was pleasant inside and the air had a light flowery smell to it. The store was neatly organized without losing its charm. The various sections were marked in pictures
rather then text. I was glad I had decided to come here. Carelessly, I weaved through the various aisles, occasionally stopping to look at a book but then always replacing it after a quick look over of the cover.

Finally, I reached the most remote aisle of the store. I chuckled as it reminded me of the ever sparsely populated reference sections of a library. Now, with the determination to actually find something worth reading, my eyes scanned the shelves. I moved along the aisle oblivious to all but the books for god knows how long. William Burroughs' Naked Lunch came into view. ‘Weird book,’ I instantly thought. It'd been awhile since I'd read it though, and, so, I went to grab the book.

My inattention to the outside world quickly became apparent, though, when another hand reached for it at the same moment. Startled at the sudden bumping of hands, I tried to pull away, the book still in my hand, as the stranger apologized, the book clasped in his hand as well. I stood wordlessly and then it hit me. I gasped and looked up a second later as the stranger's voice randomly registered in my head. "Ville!" I exclaimed, nearly dropping the book.

Seeing my face, he jumped in return as a grin filled his face. "What in the world are you doing here?" he chuckled, still surprised.

"I have a bad tendency of running late," I explained, with what was most likely the dumbest smile on my face. "And in trying to fix that, I got here early-"

"And so here you are," he stated, still seemingly astonished at my ‘sudden’ appearance next to him.

"Here am I,” I nodded as I took in the sight of him before me. My memory had served me right, he is indeed a dapper fellow. My mind froze. “Wait,” I started, “you must have been early too…"

Blush filled his cheeks and he cleared his throat. "Yes, that'd be correct." He looked down and I, being the silly creature that I am, followed suit.

Noticing the book still in the possession of our hands, I spoke, "Here, you can take it. I've already-"

"No, it's a good book, it's yours," Ville instantly interjected. Realizing we were once again cutting each other off, we started laughing. Not a moment later, a head appeared from around the aisle behind us, glaring rather intensely. We quieted our laughter as much as we could. As soon as I replaced the book on the shelf, Ville took my hand, pulling me out of the store with him.

Finally outside, we exploded in hysterics again. "Did you see his face?" Ville questioned, alluding to the cashier who had stared menacingly at us as we had made the trip from the depth of the store to the outside world.

"You'd think it was a cardinal sin to laugh or something," I nodded, still laughing. At this, Ville's head went back in even more laughter.

As our loud laughter slowly turned into calmer chuckles and giggles, Ville caught my eye, "Eh, forget whatever time we said we'd meet. Shall we go for that coffee now?" My eyes grinned in response and soon we were off down the street, hand in hand.