[Fiction] Waiting

He paced about the salesfloor impatiently. Why was she taking so long? And did he dare go look for her? She was upstairs, where all the women's things were, and he knew he'd he'd look odd walking there. Or, he could go upstairs, and join the bunch of men who all hung out at the entrance to the top floor, for the very same reason he was impatiently walking about downstairs. He'd been there a few times, and it was ok, but not the best way to be spending your time.

They all knew why they were there, so no reason to speak. In previous times, some had stared impassively at the floor, others at least met his gaze and smiled the smile of comradeship. It was odd how they all knew to come to this spot and cluster together as they waited for the ladies of their lives to hurry up with what they were doing. Must be some sort of primal homing instinct that seeks out nearby tribes for protection.

He grew more impatient with her as time wore on, deciding at they very least that when they were home together, they were going to Have Words. He even started composing what he was going to say to her, and anticipating the whole range of her responses, for each of which he composed a sharp, withering, cutting retort. In a flash, however, he saw the trap he had nearly fallen into, and the consequences of such actions.

The trap had already claimed thousands, if not millions, of couples before, and would in all probability claim the same number again. Obviously, once he decided to Have Words with her, they would argue, and the argument would soon spread to other things, some of which would have no relevance to his main greivance. And it was not hard to see that there was a very real possibility that either of them would then say something that would hurt deeply, and be impossible to retract later.

Once he saw the trap for what it was, he smiled, and shook his head, and chided himself for almost too easily falling into it. And it was then just as easy to see the way out.

Of course he was stressed. And impatient.

But...

He had waited his whole life for someone like her, so waiting a few more minutes shouldn't be that hard. Whilst it might not be a pleasure, it could definitely be painless. And with similar thoughts flowing through his brain, and leading on tangentially to others, which led on to others, the remainder of his waiting time was spent pleasantly enough, and when she finally came out, she was surprised to see him in such a good mood, knowing how tetchy he usually was when they went shopping together.

On the way home, though, he was hit by an thought. If ever they were to have daughters, he decided, he would make sure they were trained to be in and out of shops in under 10 minutes. He smiled at the idea. Was that even possible?

He was going to have fun finding out.