Page 267 of Falling Backwards
The night is winding down, so Lucent is so slow that the only patron I have is a fellow who has been taking it easy.I’m free to hurry out from behind the bar.Maggie isn’t far from bouncing up and down, which is great because it means her knee isn’t hurting as much and which is also simply adorable.The latter alone has me grinning, too, as I go stand with her.
And we do get snow, but only for a few days once or twice a year, and it seems like it’s usually in January or February.I really didn’t think the most recent forecast on our phones would turn out to be true.Yet there’s no denying that actual flurries are coming down on the patio this very moment, fluffy and steady at least for now.
“Oh, wow,” I say.
Maggie makes a soft little noise and crosses her fingers.“Come onnnn, hang around until Christmas.”
“Pff, hey, don’t wish that on us.Christmas is still a week away.People here would lose their minds and reduce the city to rubble if we had snow for a week.”
My guy at the bar chortles.“You got that right.”
He and I exchange nods of amused agreement while Maggie groans.She doesn’t admit we have a point, but I know she knows.
“I hope it lasts through tonight,” she says, “even if it doesn’t go another couple days like my app says.Then we can enjoy it after we’re off work.”
I suck pensively on my teeth.“I guess whatever falls could stick, anyway.It’s been pretty cold lately.”I shudder at recalling the parade the other night.“The Christmas parade wassocold.”
Maggie hunches her shoulders.“Itwas.”
I’d deal with it again without complaint because Maggie stood in my coat with me just like we talked about, and I loved every second.It took the parade from fun to damn awesome.Judging by how soft and bright I remember her smiles for me being, I’m confident she would say the same if I brought it up.
As it is, we talk for another minute about the weather in general and then she shuffles back to the cleaning she’s been doing while her hostess duties are quiet.I return to my task too.Things remain chill as I tend to my customer; we chat a bit about how our holiday seasons are going, but mostly he keeps to himself.Every now and then, I look at Maggie, who is doing a commendable job of continuing to work when she wants so badly to pay attention to the snow.
I’m glad Ronald isn’t here.He’d be watching her so closely that she wouldn’t have dared show excitement for the weather lest he find a way to punish her for it.
That dirty old bitch.
I wonder how much of a salary gets wasted on his bad-at-his-job bitch ass.
I don’t think about him for too long, though.He’s way less important than the warm happiness I’ve been living in.
Indeed, I go on living in it, and so does Maggie.By the time the restaurant is closed and we’re free to go, the snowissticking, which makes us even happier.
Obviously, we can’t resist playing in it once we’re safely at my apartment.
And by‘playing in it,’I mean she spins in careful circles in the falling snow, her arms outstretched and her head tilted back, while I surreptitiously build the best snowball I can.
It’s not a good one, but it keeps its shape when I throw it at her.
Her gasp slices through the night, as does my laugh as she swats at where some snow splattered over her hair—it must’ve slipped into the collar of her coat.
“You didnot!” she exclaims in a white puff.When she sees I’m forming a second snowball in my already-chilling hands, she gasps again and bends down to form her own.
And oh my God, do we have a blast in our little battle.
Our yelps and peals of laughter fill the air probably a little louder than they should at this time of night, but she doesn’t try for being quieter, just hurls basically loose snow at me because she can’t get it to press into any kind of ball shape.It’s hilarious even though the sprays of tiny ice bits get into my clothes and ears and eyes ridiculously easily.
“I don’t think you’re trying hard enough to make snowballs!”I tease her.“You know you’re getting more value out of just flinging handfuls of snow at me!”
“I don’t have time to make them perfect!Your attacks are too fast!I have to defend myself!”
“Yeah, right!You’re the one who’s winning!”
She pauses reaching for the ground again and smiles in pleasant surprise.“Really?I—”
I rush down and swoop the frosty white powder up and towards her, and as it flies into her, sheshrieks.
The sound echoes through the otherwise muted night, unstoppable because she smacks her hands over her mouth too late.
