Chris searched his other coat pocket and grinned when his fingers found more coins.
He swiftly dropped the handful of different-shaped metal pieces on the table next to the notes and the other coins they were gathering.
"How much Jay?"
"Umm," he mentally calculated, "£ 10.60," he said and fished inside his pocket producing a crumpled £10 note and adding it to the pile. "£ 20.60 now. And I've got some more in my drawer," he said and turned around presumably to get more money.
"No, Jonny, it's fine, I think we can manage with this," Chris told him.
The younger man crumpled his face in doubt, "Sure? I think I've g..."
"Yes, we'll manage."
In truth, he was ashamed; he did not have more money to contribute to, except the one for his train ticket but he could not afford to spend that. They both had part-time jobs as cleaners but their pay was due next week and they would not get more shifts until the beginning of January. Chris had counted on being at his parents' house all this time and therefore not have to worry about money. However, he had not foreseen this change of plans and now they had to manage with the little money they had left.
"I think I have another £ 20, just in case," he told him.
"What about your train fare?"
"I'm not counting it, I have already put aside the money for it," he explained.
Clever bloke.
Jonny had always been better with finances than him. His judicious friend was the one in charge of making sure rent and bills were paid on time and Chris was absolutely grateful for that.
"So shall we head to the shops before it snows more heavily?"
Jon looked outside the window, "I think it's already snowing quite heavily."
He narrowed his eyes, "But I'm hungry and we'll brave the snow to get some food, right Jonny boy?"
"Right," he chuckled.
"Let's go then!"
They wrapped themselves in the warmest outfit they owned and left their flat.
"Shit," the guitarist uttered with a tiny laugh as they were immediately caught in the middle of a gust of wind filled with large heavy snowflakes. They stuck to their clothes and hats and slowly melted away getting their garments wet and cold.
"I can't see shit," Chris said wiping his eyes. "Your nose is all red from the cold, Jonny!" he cackled.
"Great, now I resemble Rudolph!"
"Jonny, the red-nosed Welshman," Chris crooned.
"Shut up."
"Has a very shiny nose," he continued until his friend shoved him and he almost lost his balance, "You fucker!" he cried out with a loud chortle.
"You asked for it!"
It took them way longer than usual to reach their nearest Sainsbury's, they had to dodge huge piles of snow, blocked paths and tricky ice-patches along the way.
Once inside, they carefully calculated what to get to last that day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, it was quite a challenge with only £20 in their budget.
Jonny's extraordinary ability at Maths and problem-solving saved them from a few days of eating rubbish since Chris thought he would have probably spent all the money on cereal and crackers. However, with Jonny's lead, they had together designed a list of products –many of them on sale- so they had a bit of everything on their plates. It was not much, granted, but at least they could work it out.
