The Watch – Part 80:

When I arrived home, I didn’t know what to do. I sat down on my sofa wondering whether I should have left Amy’s in the first place.

The phone rang and I rushed to pick it up.

‘Hello,’ I answered.

‘Are you free today?’ Tom’s voice said.

‘As a matter of fact, yes I am,’ I said.

‘Good, because I’m taking you out so you can tell me everything about what you and Amy got up to together,’ he said.

‘Where are we going?’ I asked.

‘Leave that to me. Just get ready to spill the beans. I’ll be over in a couple of minutes’ Tom said before suddenly hanging up. I put down the receiver and got myself ready to head out by changing my clothes, washing my face and making sure that I have everything that I need in my bag. Phone, money and all that.

The doorbell rang and I went to let Tom in. He stepped inside, beaming with joy, as if Christmas has just come early for him.

‘Honey, I’m back,’ Tom said.

‘You’re happy,’ I answered obviously. He followed me through to the living room where I started to put on my shoes and tie them up.

‘And I’m about to show you why,’ he said practically jumping up and down.

‘Do we have to go out?’ I asked. ‘Can’t I say everything here?’

‘We could do that,’ Tom said, ‘but I want to go out and want to know everything that happened with you two.’

‘You’ve had too many energy drinks today haven’t you,’ I said standing up after suddenly figuring it out.

‘Hyperactivity is a state of mind,’ Tom said defensively. ‘And no, I haven’t had any energy drinks today. I haven’t had any in a good while, actually. Well, since a couple of days ago to be honest. No, I’m just really excited about where we’re going.’

‘So it’s a surprise,’ I said.

‘And if you don’t get a move on, we’re going to miss it.’

‘Alright, alright, I’m coming, I’m coming,’ I said stepping past him and heading out through the door. When I was outside before him, I turned around and decided to turn the tables.

‘Come on then,’ I said, ‘we’re going to be late.’

‘Haha,’ he said sarcastically, ‘you’re not going to get away with that one.’ I shut the front door and asked Tom where we’re heading. He pointed in the opposite direction to that of the town centre, which was definitely a surprise.

‘Is it going to be one of those things that has been advertised all throughout everywhere yet it somehow managed to slip past my radar,’ I said.

‘Maybe,’ he said.

‘That is strange,’ I said. ‘Normally you say immediately.’ Tom was practically bouncing all the way down the road.

‘Are you sure you’re alright,’ I asked.

‘I’m fine,’ he said. What on Earth could he be so excited about? I’ve only ever seen him this excited when the PlayStation 4 came out. He was the first in line to receive the brand new console and he couldn’t settle down for weeks beforehand. I would know if a new console or game had or will be coming out as it is one of the rare things that I am able to keep up to date with. At first, I thought we were going to go past Amy’s house, but then we suddenly turned off to the left and headed down a street that lead to the industrial estate, which contained an assortment of companies, from woodwork to metal work to kids play areas to go karts.

‘We’re going go-karting, aren’t we?’ I asked knowing that is the only thing down here that Tom has any interest in.

‘We’re not only going go-karting,’ was the only thing he said. I did try and press him for an expanded answer, but he wouldn’t give me one. Instead, he told me to wait and see. We turned onto the section of the industrial estate that contained the go-karting and my jaw hit the floor with such force, it nearly came out of its socket.

‘We’re going gaming as well,’ he said. Parked in a very efficient way were many double-decker buses each with the console that they have on display inside plastered all over one side. There was a bus dedicated to the PlayStation 3 and another one for the PlayStation 4, and so on: PS1, PS2, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and even some old consoles such as the Atari, Sega Geneses, and many others all throughout history. There was even a bus that had the old fashioned arcade machine in. Complete with all that, loud music that comprised of soundtracks from popular games blasted over the large speakers that stood at each corner of the parking lot; one staked on top of the other.

‘I now know why you were so excited,’ I said feeling the inner nerd bubbling to the surface. This was nerd heaven to Tom. ‘But how am I going to tell you about everything?’ I asked.

‘Over there,’ Tom said, pointing to the café that had been put in place especially for this event. ‘After we’ve had a go in every single bus that is,’ he said.

‘Of course,’ I said not bothering to hide my smile of glee. Over the last couple of days, I haven’t been able to unleash my inner nerd except when we attended that quiz on the first day of summer, but that was only slightly out of the bag that time. This is allowing my inner nerd to jump out of the bag, and run away from it with the hope of never seeing it again.

‘Shall we,’ Tom said.

‘After you,’ I answered.

‘The problem we have with me going first,’ he said, ‘is that I haven’t got a clue as to what bus to go on first.’

‘And you’re going to leave that decision down to the person who is even worse at making decisions than you,’ I pointed out.

‘Sounds about right,’ he said.

‘Right you are then,’ I said before taking a step forward, letting my feet lead the way.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)