**That's okay.**
Clay's hands warmed up as he held the drink in his hands. He only had one more block to go. It seemed the slickness of the fallen snow was making this trek home longer than it needed to be. He sighed, wishing he was snug at home at the moment. His breath formed as a white vapor in the air and slowly disappeared.
He passed a few people on the street, but only one caught his attention. Any other time Clay would have followed, but he needed to get home and to bed so he could open the store in the morning. Clay slowed his pace and watched the young man go into the bookstore cafe. Clay hesitated, but then turned and continued to his home.
The next morning came too early. Clay got up, yawned, stretched and got in the shower. He put some nice smelling cologne on and got dressed. With his salary he could afford nice clothes now. He was glad for that because he liked looking nice most of the time. He did his hair & put on a sky blue shirt, a black vest with blue pin stripes and the pants and jacket to match. Clay had also had some shoes dies to the exact blue in his suit. He put them on and topped it all off with a long black coat with fur in the hood and around the cuffs. He headed to work with his coffee in hand. He rarely at breakfast, usually only taking coffee.
When he got there he unlocked the doors and turned the alarm off. He set up, turned everything on, including the Christmas tree in the window that he'd decorated. His manager didn't really like the tree, but he stopped complaining when it surprisingly brought in a few extra customers. They had said they say the white tree sparkling from the road and had to come in. Clay finished off his coffee and then started to check all the clothes on the racks while he waited for his first customers.
