Coffee Talk

Six

The remainder of the day was spent walking up and down the city's main strip, visiting its small shops and admiring the holiday display windows. Seth's Christmas list dictated their itinerary, and Angela offered her advice as best as she could. Not knowing the personalities of the people he was buying for made it somewhat difficult, but she did the best she could with what she had. Seth seemed appreciative, especially as she helped him carry the shopping bags between stores. Balancing the parcels distracted her enough that she didn't see Seth reach out to take her hand until his warm fingers wrapped around hers.

Hand in hand, they walked through the city's center. Festive lights were lit despite the afternoon sunlight shining off the mounds of fallen snow. Church bells rang, and the sound of choirs could be heard singing Christmas carols to entertain shoppers as they passed by. Street vendors offered all sorts of pastries, cookies, and cakes, ready for sampling or boxed to take home.

She wanted to eat it all.

They decided on a cart that sold molten hot chocolate. It resided near a manmade skating rink, already bustling with skaters laughing and hollering on the ice.

"Two please," Seth said to the man at the cart, finally releasing her hand as he shuffled his packages, reaching into his pockets.

"You don't need to do that" Angela protested. "You've already spent so much money today."

"I insist," he insisted as he finally found his leather wallet. "Besides, your name still remains on my list. Consider this part of your gift."

She felt almost guilty to be the source of another expenditure, but his logic was sound, and she refrained from arguing after that.

They settled on a bench situated on the outskirts of the skating rink, each with a cup of steaming hot chocolate between their gloved hands. Angela took a small sip, and the sweet drink coated her tongue with a menagerie of festive saccharine flavors.

A twig snapped behind her, and she turned. Delilah leaned against a tree not too far behind them. Angela had been wondering about her friend's whereabouts throughout the day and knew she wouldn't be able to stay away forever, but now that she and Seth had finished their day's errands and finally had a chance to sit and talk, she hoped Delilah would maintain her safe distance rather than interrupting with her tidings of doom and gloom.

"Do you ever just stop and... watch people?" Seth asked, pulling her attention back to him. She tried to read him—in her own way, not Delilah's—to figure out where such a sudden question would have come from, but his focus remained on the activity in the skating rink.

"You mean like how we're watching them right now?" she offered.

"No, I mean... really watch them. Like, try to see if you can tell the kind of person they are. For better or for worse."

Angela almost choked on her hot chocolate, the liquid burning her throat as she coughed. "No... I can't say I have," she lied. She glanced over her shoulder to where Delilah remained leaning against the nearby tree and wondered if she could hear their conversation. Or sense her lie.

"It's fascinating, really," Seth continued. "We're surrounded by so many people on a daily basis who don't even realize it."

"Realize what?"

He turned and looked at her. "That they're being judged."

Angela could only blink in response.

He turned back to the skaters making their way around the frozen rink. "As children, we're told to be good or Santa is going to give us coal in our stockings. As teens, religion tries to teach us to repent for our innate sins or else we're going to Hell."

"And as adults?"

"As adults, we realize it's all bullshit."

Her jaw dropped slightly as she tried to find the words to challenge him or to counter him or to ask where this philosophical stance derived from. Instead, she could only focus on Delilah behind her, like a presence breathing down her neck, making her skin prickle.

"What do you think?" he asked softly, turning back to her.

"I... I think anyone could be anyone they want to be, and no one should make assumptions about a person without knowing them first."

Seth scoffed and looked down at his hot chocolate. "I have a... friend. My roommate. Who thinks that there's good in each of us if we only just look."

"That's funny," she mused, doing all she could to not glance in Delilah's direction. "I have a friend who believes everyone is born inherently evil."

"Sounds like we should get them together sometime."

Angela shook her head. "Something tells me if that ever happened, it would cause the Apocalypse."

Seth snorted, nudging her slightly, playfully, as if she had told the punchline to an amusing joke. Maybe she had, but again—he'd never met Delilah.

The thought of her companion had Angela turning around once again, looking back to the tree. Delilah made sure she had her complete attention as she motioned to her wrist, mimicking a watch or some other timepiece. It was enough to tell Angela that she was ready to be done and home, but Angela was nowhere near ready to finish the evening as of yet.

She wasn't ready to leave Seth yet either, especially when the presence of his body next to hers kept her warm even in the coldest winter breeze, and their cups of hot chocolate remained between their hands unfinished. For far too long, Delilah had dictated what Angela did and when she did it, but she wasn't going to allow it now.

After her moment of consideration, Angela turned back towards Seth. Delilah be damned. "Would you like to come back to my apartment?"

Seth coughed on the sip of hot chocolate he had just taken and looked to her, eyes wide, as he wiped at his mouth. Rather than saying anything in response, his gaze drifted back towards the skaters on the pond.

Had she read the signals incorrectly? She thought they were enjoying themselves well enough—she didn't think it was something that needed that much deliberation. Then again, it had taken her this long to decide to invite him back to her apartment in the first place.

"I don't know if I should stay the night," he admitted.

Now it was Angela's turn to sputter. "Oh... oh! God, no, I didn't say that! No, no, no, I didn't mean it like that!" Angela said quickly. "I just meant to get out of the cold, have dinner, drinks, warm up. I mean—you could stay longer if you wanted to, but—"

Seth chuckled. "It's all right. I'd love to accompany you home and warm up before heading back to my apartment."

"Great." Angela smiled, letting out an exasperated breath before standing up and helping Seth with his packages.

She turned back to see if Delilah was still watching them, a satisfied look plastered across her face, but Delilah had disappeared once again.