salted caramel & Mint choc chip

Our first date was at an ice cream parlour, one of the fancy ones in central London. The floors were all neatly patterned with small black and white diamonds. Ornate glass light shades hung from the ceiling, filling the shop with a warm glow.

I stood on my tiptoes, trying to read the blackboard filled with their flavours, decorated with cute chalk ice creams. The board was too high up to read the handwriting from far away; everyone had gathered around the bar waiting to catch the eye of the server while we stood back to decide what we wanted.

What I wanted.

I sighed as I lowered myself and turned to look at him. His green eyes were staring at me. It wasn't the impatient stare I got from many people; it was the type of stare that made me feel seen all at once inside and out. Not even when I turned did it make him lose focus.

The shop was probably very warm in the shop with everyone crowding inside. The air slowly thinned as we stood there staring at each other.

'Do you know what you're getting?' I asked. He blinked a few times before he smiled, and I felt his stare retreat from me. No longer did I feel like he was looking right at me all at once and saw through to the very essence of my soul.

He looked up at the board. His golden hair caught the light's glow and darkened the outline of his face. I watched as his jaw tightened, then loosened into a smile.

'Just plain, two salted caramels.' His voice was light with slight shakiness about it.

'Plain?' I eyed him as he looked back down to me.

'yeah plain, what you getting?'

'I don't know. I can't see, maybe a mint choc chip.' I made another attempt to peek at the chalk board above but gave up.

'Very plain.' He chuckled.

Everyone shuffled closer to the bar. I stepped forward into the a gap, my arm felt heavy and dragging behind. I looked down to see our hands intertwined. When did we start holding hands? When did I take his? Did he take mine?

His hand was a welcome weight in mine, just like his presence at my back was welcomed; it was comforting, as if it was natural for us to stand so close together that I didn't need to be holding his hand to know that he was right behind me.

We hurried over to a booth just as a couple was leaving. We pushed their empty bowls to the side and waited , talking about this and that.

I enjoyed staring at him, the way he always had a small smile on his face, and if I mentioned something he was interested in, his eyes would light up, and he spoke with such passion that I couldn't help but smile.

Our ice creams came. His two scoops of salted caramel sat plain and lonely in its cup compared to my choc chip sundae with a cherry on top.

'There's no way you're eating all of that.' He laughed as he reached over and took a small scoop of my ice cream.

I gasped. 'You've got your own ice cream there.' I smiled mischievously as I reached over and took a scoop of his.

We stayed long after we finished our ice creams. He would gently touch my hand from time to time until I had enough and slowly took his hand in mine.

That was years ago, and I still relive that memory. Even as an old lady, I still find myself turning back time with shaky hands just to relive the memory once more.

But this time something was different as I turned the hand on the pocket watch.

The boy I knew and loved no longer stood next to me, staring at me. I tiptoed to look at everyone's heads, hoping my eyes would easily spot him.

I glanced over by the seating area and saw his golden hair. Two ice creams in front of him.

I walked over to him as if something was nipping at my heels. This isn't normally how it goes.

He looked up at me with a large smile on his face, his green eyes glossy.

'Is it you?' he asked, his voice a throaty whisper. He turned and coughed.

'Me?'

'It's me.' He gestured to himself and moved both of our ice creams to the side. He took my hand in his as I looked at him. His eyes were as green as the first time I saw them, and the same confident smile. 'You turned back time.'

'I did… but... wait, you turn back time?' I tightened my grip on his hand, already feeling my heart speed up.

'Always.'

'Always?' How come I haven't seen you before?' He went quiet as he rubbed the back of his neck.

'I don't think it works like that. I've been coming here for years, but old age snuck up on me; I turned the hand one last time.' He laughed awkwardly, not looking at me. 'So I have been stuck in this time, watching our first date every day.'

His hand felt all too real and very heavy in mine. I brought his hand up and kissed his knuckles, feeling the grooves and the softness of him.

'It's my favourite memory.' He said quietly.

'It's my favourite memory too.' I just stared at his hand; if I looked at him, I doubt I could hold back tears. 'But you left me.'

'I still can't explain why I did that, but I have always been here, even when I didn't turn the pocket watch.'

'You could have called.' My voice was shaky, barely a whisper, as tears stung my eyes.

'If I could turn back time, I would.' We both laughed. He placed his hand on my cheek and guided my head up to see him. He was a massive blur to me. 'I have missed you every day we were apart.' He pulled my hand over for him to kiss.

'Do you remember what we did after this?' I asked, wiping my tears to see him smiling at me,

'Let's go find out.'

We stood up from the table and left as a young couple came over, trying to find seats in the busy shop.