Christmas bells sounded through the night air of the busy city. The voices of the street vendors seemed to sing along with the sweet chiming.
"Hats!"
"Bats!"
"Shoes!"
"Booze!"
"Mountain bikes!"
"Watches!"
"Leather bags!"
"Girlie mags!"
They shouted at every possible customer that walked by. Desperately trying to make those last minute Christmas sales. Shannon and Angel stood at one of the small street shops that was completely covered with long heavy coats.
"How about a nice fur?" the haggard saleswoman asked them "It's still in perfect shape. I got it from an MBA from uptown. Or I've got this overcoat that use to belong to some greedy old broker down on Wall Street who took a nose dive out of a twentieth story window after losing everything."
"How nice" a rather uncomfortable Angel answered.
"You don't have to do this" Shannon said softly.
"Hush your mouth. It's Christmas." He laughed
"I don't deserve you Angel."
"Oh please. Let's find you a coat before you throw yourself at my feet."
Angel knelt down to examine a stack of coats on the floor. Quickly nixing the majority of them. Suddenly he saw something in the corner of his eye. A small white flake, slowly floating to the ground. It was a snow flake. The first snow flake of the winter. He jumped up to his feet facing Shannon.
"Kiss me." He exclaimed.
"What?"
"Kiss me. It's beginning to snow. A first kiss under the first snow. It's good luck."
"You don't actually believe that do you?" Shannon asked with a smile.
"No. But who care."
Angel pulled Shannon close to his chest. Mashing their lips together. Shannon wrapped his arm around Angel's waist, pulling him in closer while sucking on his bottom lip as the snow fell around them. Even the most ignorant homophobe would have been touched by the unmistakable beautiful moment. They pulled apart, smiling deeply at each other. Neither one could remember ever being so happy. However Shannon's happiness was pause when his attention was draw to one of the coats sticking out of the pile. He ran over to it, pulling it out and holding it up. He took extra notice of the missing sleeve that had been torn off at the shoulder.
"This is my coat!"
"We give discounts." The woman said attempting to cover up the situation.
"You lying, cheating little…" He shouted but Angel quickly stepped in to tame Shannon's anger.
"It's not important hun. We'll get you a better coat. We'll get you the best coat in New York City."
"She a thief Angel!"
"I know…but she brought us together."
He was right. If Shannon hadn't been mugged be would have never stumbled upon the most exquisite person he had ever met in his life. It's funny how life can be sometimes. In less then one night he had gone from being down in the gutter to soaring high above the stars. He'd take a thousand beatings if it meant being with Angel. There was no denying it, he was falling head over heals in love.
"So she asked you to light her candle and then she wanted you to take her out tonight?" Matt asked, abbreviating Jeff's story.
"In so many words…yeah."
"Well she must have been something. I mean she actually got you out of the house."
"She is, but I pushed her away. I just got so angry and I had to get her out of my sight."
"But I thought you liked her?"
"I did…I do. I don't know what happened to me. I started screaming and insulting her and then I just threw her out. By the time I went to her apartment to apologize she was already gone and I have no idea where she would be now. Not that it even matters. She'd probably slap me in the face if I tried talking to her. I wouldn't blame her after the things I said."
"I know I would." Matt laughed.
Jeff continued to silently kick himself until something from across the street caught his eye.
"Holly shit that's her."
"Who?"
"Mimi. Who do you think?"
"Where?" Matt asked looking the same direction that his brother was.
"Right over there, the brunette."
"Damn! You kicked her out of our apartment? You know I'm starting to question you hetero status little brother."
Matt's comment was lost on Jeff who was too focused on the beautiful Latino in the leopard print coat that matched her boots. He made a mad dash towards Mimi direction but before he could reach her she disappeared into a near by alley. Jeff followed her down the dark path only to find her talking to some shady character in a long overcoat. Unfortunately it was a character Jeff more then familiar with.
"Hey man." Mimi said "I need something to get me through the night."
"Mimi!"
"Jeff?" she said, surprised to see him there. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I saw you walking and I wanted to apologize for the way I acted before."
"You really don't have to."
"No, I was an asshole. I shouldn't have blown up like that. Can I make it up to you?"
"How?"
"Well a friend of mine is doing a little spoken word in the lot across the street. And after a bunch of us are going out. Would you like to come? It's on me."
"Well in that case I'd have to say yes." She smiled.
Jeff took Mimi's hand and began to lead her out of the gloomy alley but before they could take a step the angry drug dealer whose sale had been interrupted jumped in front of them, blocking the way.
"Hey lover-boy! You steal my clients and you die!"
"Hell man, if you didn't miss me you wont miss her. Besides I'm sure you can alwaysfind some new costumers that you can poison."
Hand in hand the new couple pushed past the daunting man towards the lot and their future.
Meanwhile, on a nearby street, Joanne stood off to the edge of the sidewalk. Nervously taping her heal on the pavement and chewing on her nails. It was almost show time and Amy was no where to be found. She kept checking around the corner of the building hoping to see hermate coming towards her but all the only thing Joanne saw was a bunch of police cars and vans preparing to shut the show down. There were even officers dressed in full riot gear lined up against shop windows but no Amy. She tried calling once more but there was no answer. Joanne cursed her girlfriend under her breath as she put her phone away. This was how it always went. Amy was always late to everything leaving Joanne to worry herself to death. And then, just in the nix of time, Amy would show up with her big carefree smile allowing Joanne to recover from her near heart attack. It just the way she was. Amy could be rather selfish. She never really thought about how her actions affected those around her. She'd play, she'd flirt, she'd cheat, and Joanne would just pretend not to notice. But she did notice and it hurt. It's amazing what people will overlook for love.
The clock was winding down and with each second that went by Joanne could feel her heart pounding through her chest. Each beat so thunderous that Joanne swore she could hear it but she quickly realized that what she heard was not her heart but the loud rumbling of a motorcycle engine. She looked up to see a black and red Harley pull up right in front of her. The rider pulled the heavy helmet off exposing her long fire red locks. She swung her leg over the side of the bike and tossed her helmet over to her waiting girlfriend.
"Joanne, which way to the stage?"
And with those words the two ran for the lot. Every thing was set. The audience was ready, the performer had arrived, time for the show.
