The Ideal and the Real

The Centre of Attention

Yes, I admit it! Now I like him! I hope I don't wear my heart on my sleeve. Ugh. What if he finds out? Okay okay okay, keep calm. I was hyperventilating.

We stopped walking again. Lucas started talking. "You must be excited to enter the centre again, huh? There's more than just the first floor!"

Phew, that was close. I rapidly nodded my head. "Yeah. Totally. More places. To go see." I was out of breath.

"Oh, before we go anywhere, do you have a bottle of water with you? It seems like you need it."

I checked my bag. Looked through every pocket. I sighed. I forgot to bring one. Whoops. I keep forgetting these type of things. "No." Then I was about to cry. Not in front of him, I thought. Oh no. Now what? Luckily, I successfully stopped the tears before he even noticed.

"That's fine," he said. "We can just go to the convenience store to buy one."

"Oh yeah. That place. Now I just have to check if I brought some cash with me." I looked through my bag hoping the sight of my wallet was there. But it wasn't. Not again.

Being forgetful is the worst."Lucas, I'm broke right now. I didn't bring my wallet. It's at home..."

"Well if that's the case, then I can just buy you one. It's only 2 bucks for 500 mLs."

When we both entered the centre, we saw many people in line for monthly bus passes. They filled up the whole area.

"Whoa," said Lucas. "There are more people here than the time I bought my bus pass! Glad I didn't have to wait this long."

"Me too," I replied. "I got mine on Wednesday."

Then something nearby got my attention: a drinking fountain. Just what I needed!

"Lucas! You're not obliged to buy me water anymore. There's a drinking fountain here." I ran there as fast as I could, being careful not to bump into anyone walking by. The whole centre was crowded just like New York.

As I was at the fountain, Lucas gave me a hand gesture telling me that he'll go to the convenience store. I nodded and gave him a thumbs up, saying that it's okay with me. The convenience store also had a long line-up. Don't get me wrong. I didn't mind the line-ups when I was in New York. But not here. Why? Because this place isn't NYC. It's normal over there, but not here. This city isn't really busy.

Hoping that I wouldn't lose Lucas in this crowd of people, I walked over to an on-the-go lunch area. It wasn't a surprise that it's crowded there too. The place offered soups, sandwiches and salads. Healthy stuff! Awesome. I'll consider buying lunch there once I have my wallet and the crowds aren't as bad.

To the left of that catering service, white construction walls were enclosing a large area of the centre. No wonder why this place feels crowded. A sign on the wall said that by the end of the year, new restaurants will open. Glad I won't have to deal with this small space for long.

As I walked back to the convenience store again, Lucas was still in the middle of the line-up. Not much has happened over there yet. So I'll keep him waiting. He held a juice bottle in one of his hands. It was the kind where a bunch of citrus fruits were combined together to make this (apparently) awesome fruit juice. I tried it once before, but it wasn't my type of juice. I like fruit juices that were of a single fruit. Orange, apple, cranberry, sometimes grape... but not like a fruit punch where all the flavours clash and collide. It has never appealed to me.

As I waited for Lucas, he checked his phone for the time and moved his legs a bit. He repeated those movements every minute. I understand him. I wouldn't want to wait in a line that long. I myself am waiting for him, but thankfully, I was sitting on a nearby bench made of gravel. When Lucas finally made it to the cashier, he pulled his debit card out of his wallet. That was when he purchased the beverage. Looks like he didn't bring cash with him either.