Silver Flash #19 Afternoon Stroll

It's Wednesday and that means it's flash day.    I'm sticking with my two favorite couple the firefighter and his man (okay Ben is in real estate, I know it's not clamorous but he likes it)

It's summer Tom has some time off and the two lovers decide to enjoy an afternoon stroll around town.
Please don't forget to check out my fellow flasher's stories, the links are at the bottom of this page

Flash #19 Prompts: Failure is not an option, Are you going to eat that? "This is like a freaking soap opera." And "You have ten seconds . . . "

Afternoon Stroll

“There’s a parking spot right there!”  Tom pointed frantically at the empty spot that had just opened up among the row of parked cars along Main Street.

“Got it.”  Ben quickly claimed the spot; he was a parallel parking diva.   It always blew Tom away with how quickly he could angle into a spot.

“I don’t know how you do that, it’s like magic.”  Tom’s hand squeezed Ben’s thigh.

“It’s all in the wrists.”  Ben smiled back at his boyfriend.

“Yeah well, don’t get a swelled head.   All I know is I failed my first road test cause of parallel parking.”   He groused as he opened up the door and angled himself out of the car.  He drummed his fingers on the car roof while he waited for Ben to join him on the sidewalk. 

“Boy you sure are antsy, what’s up with you?”  Ben asked him as they started to walk down the street.    The sidewalk wasn’t too crowded for a Sunday, probably because there was a concert going on over at the park.    He and Tom were just not into big crowds.   They preferred quieter events, like taking an afternoon stroll along in their small town.   

“I’m fine, Ben.  I guess I’m having a problem unwinding after working twelve hours shifts for the past three days.”    Being a firefighter had some satisfying moments, but it was very hard work.  It made Tom appreciate his days off even more, especially when he could spend it doing fun things with his favorite guy.

“Well I’m going to take care of that right now.”  Ben grabbed Tom’s hand and intertwined their fingers and led the way to the “Country Ice Cream.”  Parlor was pretty busy so the guys studying the menu board on the wall before deciding what they were going to order.   “There is nothing like ice cream to take your mind off everything.”

“I can’t argue with that.”  Tom smiled.  

“Can I help you?”  The red-haired teen behind the country asked.   She was one of the many high school students working to make money over their summer vacation. 

“Yes, I’ll have a hot fudge sundae with pistachio ice cream.”   Ben told her, he noticed it got quiet and he looked over at his partner who was still studying the board.  He nudged him with his shoulder.   “Tom?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry.  Um I’ll have a double ice cream cone with sinful chocolate with chocolate sprinkles please.”   Tom noticed Ben snickering at his choice.  The parlor had some interesting names for some of their flavors.   “What are you laughing at?” 

“Nothing.”  After paying, they moved down to the end of the counter to make room for other customers.   After a few minutes the teen handed them their orders.   They found a table by the large window.   They enjoyed doing some people watching while they enjoyed their sweet treats. 

“When do you have to go back to work?”  Ben asked him.

“In about three days, I’m on a three days on and off schedule right now.”

“Too bad I have to work tomorrow.  The real estate business waits for no one.”

“You’re lucky you can work from home.”   Tom took a few licks from his ice cream cone.  He couldn’t help noticing how Ben was staring at him.

“What?”

“Do you know how sexy you look when you do that?”  Ben laughed when Tom blushed at the comment.

They chit chatted about what they planned to do with the rest of their day.

“Are you going to eat that?”  Tom asked Ben about his maraschino cherries that were sitting on the side of the ice cream bowl.   

Knowing how much Tom loved them, Ben would often ask for extra and keep them to the side for him.   “No, babe, they’re all yours.”    He watched as they were quickly scarfed down.

“Why don’t you just ask for your own on your cone?” Ben wondered.

“Because I’d rather get them from you.”   Tom has chocolate covering his mouth.   Ben leaned over and kissed him and licked the mess off.

“Mmm, sweet.” 

Movement out of the corner of Ben’s eye caught his attention.    An Amish buggy had been parked along the street and its owner was coming back with bags of groceries and other supplies.    Ben noticed some tourists that were about to take some pictures.  He quickly got out of his seat and walked out the door.

“Excuse me, please don’t do that.”   The photographer turned around and glared at Ben.

“What?”  The man was on the tall side, burly kind of looked like he could be a bouncer.

“The Amish don’t like their pictures taken, please respect that.” Ben stood in front of the man to prevent him from snapping a shot.

The Amish man had glanced over at the confrontation but continued to load up the buggy. 

“I’ll take pictures of whatever I want, now get out of the way.”   He pushed Ben aside but before he could bring his camera up it was pulled out of has hand.

“Hey!”  The man screamed but quickly shut up when he looked up into the face of an angry blond man who was built like a tank. 

“I believe my boyfriend told you not to take any photos of the Amish.”  Tom had quickly left the shop when he saw Ben being pushed. 

“Oh, sorry man.”   The man quickly walked away with his head down.

“Thanks, but you know I could have handled it.”

“Oh I know babe, I hope you don’t mind if I was your backup.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”   Ben noticed the Amish man looking their way.  He quickly looked back at his buggy and climbed in.   He gave them a polite nod in thanks and snapped the reins at the horse and clicked at the animal to get it going.

“Well that is a fine way to show gratitude.”  Ben whispered.

“It’s the Amish way, they don’t like to have too much contact with us ‘English’ as they call us non-Amish.  Believe me he was very thankful and I think curious.”

“Curious?”  Ben wondered.

“Yeah, he heard me call you my boyfriend and that got the wheels turning in his head.”

“I wonder if there are any gays in their community.”  Ben asked.

“If there are I feel sorry for them.  They can never have what we have or ever do this in public.”  Tom leaned down and kissed Ben’s lips.

Across the street there was another photographer that was snapping shots of the ardent couple.

 TBC

Julie L. Hayes m/m

Lindsay Klug   m/f

Heather Lin     m/f

Ryssa Edwards    m/m

Pender Mackie     m/m