He was on his way to buy her a present when it happened.
The shops were busy, it being only a week before Christmas. The idea of what to get her came to him some time earlier when he called in at her place. He had arranged a time to pick her up for going to the cinema on the following night. As usual, at that time, he’d got chatting with her dad and it came out that she was keen to get the latest music CD by her favourite group. Just between them, it was decided that he would be the one to buy it for her. He got off the bus and made his way to the store in the shopping centre where he usually went.
He had taken the escalator to the upper floor and was walking towards the shop when he saw them. Saw them and heard them. She was with a man that he felt he recognised as one of her work mates from the office. They were holding hands and laughing. As the couple moved through the crowd below he confirmed that it was definitely him. He stood and watched as they navigated their way through the shoppers, with him now with his arm around her waist and her cuddling up close and still laughing.
No longer intending to visit the music shop, he looked around for a café. After settling down with a much needed cup of coffee, he slowly allowed the swell of emotions to ebb away. He sat thinking for a long time. In a way, he wasn’t that surprised. It felt strange that more than anything he felt a sense of loss that he wouldn’t be seeing her dad again! He had really liked him. Anyway, that was the way it was.
On a far more positive note, he realised that he’d made two savings, the cost of a CD and a whole lot of future heartaches…
