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Josh usually would be at rest in a place full of the tantalizing aroma of cotton candy, the tickling sound of children laughing, and the promise of thrilling rides. Then again, Josh usually wouldn’t be waiting for a rude and rather untimely doctor. The boy was now sitting uneasily in a whimsical chair proportion like a giant rabbit head, complete with a lopsided bow. Whoever had designed the monstrosity had no suspicion of the fact that people sat in their behind rather than their spine. Josh shifted so an obtrusion of the chair dug less deeply into his back. Perhaps, he wasn’t even sitting on the crude object correctly. He concluded this as accurate when a group of kids, barely seven, walked past him and burst into a fit of mocking giggles. A nervous foot began tapping against the fluorescent pink of the rabbit’s ribbon as Josh was lost in his own thoughts. The orange pair of converse made a dull thumping as they collided with the hollow plastic of the chair. Josh’s auburn gaze floated upward and came to rest on the oversized dough eyes that the rabbit was endowed with. It still scared him how kids could be coerced by mascots like these. To be honest, they freaked Josh out a bit. He sighed irritably and began fuming to pass the time. Not at the amusement park or its awkwardly shaped seating, but rather at the doctor he was being forced to wait around for.

He hadn’t seen Mr. Julian Sweet since the last Summer event at the Lab. The man didn’t make such a sincere or fine impression on Josh then. The fact that incident had occurred nearly a year ago wasn’t wearing too well on the boy either. He began to fidget nervously again as resentment seeped into his motions. In the boy’s mind this had turned from a rather unfortunate occurrence into a battle over whether or not his money would be wasted. Josh, being as hardheaded as he was, couldn’t agree to the notion of squandering his money and not even getting three seconds with the person he had won a date with. Even the word date sent sickening shivers through his body. Maybe a few weeks ago, maybe even a few months ago, he could still consider this meeting pleasant enough to be labeled as a date. Now it was regarded as an obligation. It had been a downhill battle to even plan the meeting today. The boy didn’t even want to think about the numerous unanswered calls that he had gone through, or the fact he probably now seemed like a young stalker rather than a financially concerned adolescent. Josh only hoped that Mr. Julian Sweet would keep up his end of their “little deal”.

Josh flipped open his cell phone and looked at the digital clock. It was about five minutes until three, about five minutes until the time they had decided to meet at, and that meant about five minutes for Mr. Julian Sweet to arrive before he would have to confront a moderately feisty teenage boy.

Josh’s foot seemed to tap in time with his cell phone’s digital display. It produced an impatient metronome on the rabbit seat. He swore that a park official would come reprimand him at any second for being too rough on the misshapen chair. The poor thing had probably been through enough already by being cursed to a deformed façade. Choosing to stop his hotheaded rhythm, he found a new way to show his anxiety. The boy’s hand managed to slip uneasily in his hair and under his shabby, weather-worn beanie. He began twirling the various strands of honey brown in a nervous dance of fingers and hair. Josh looked at his clock again. So what if had only been a few seconds since he had looked at it last time…. It wasn’t like he was getting first date jitters or anything. Or… maybe he was. Josh felt disgusted in himself but chose to ignore the feeling in order to spare one last uncomfortable look at his cell phone. He counted under his breath as the last minute before three o’clock ticked away.

Thirty-three…. Thirty-two…. Thirty-one…. Thir-

Josh’s banter was cut off as he was approached by an older man; one who looked very out of place among the toddlers and children lining the park sidewalks. Josh paused and took in Julian’s form with a critical eye. He could feel Mr. Sweet doing much of the same thing. A smirk gracefully upturned the boy’s lips and he gave a solemn “Hnn” in response to Julian’s terse description of his roadside confrontation. So he did manage to show up. Josh felt some of his worry subside. Hopefully, the rest of the date would live up to his expectations. Apparently, the man could clean up well for ‘dates’. It would have been absurd if he had shown up in anything more formal. As a matter of fact, the boy had never seen Mr. Sweet in anything beside a freshly pressed tuxedo; excluding the fact this was just the second time he had seen the man.

Nevertheless, another problem soon arose. Josh paused contemplating just how to get out of the peculiar bunny bench. It was like trap in itself, a chair meant to lure hapless park goers into its devious plastic clutches. Josh looked up at Julian with inquisitive eyes. He grinned and nodded, “Thanks for the help.” Alas, instead of waiting for the man to make any move to assist him, the boy helped himself to Julian’s generosity. He abruptly reached out a svelte arm and his hand gripped snuggly around Julian’s wrist. Josh then went about the task of pulling himself out of his seat, nothing to hard he hoped.

Josh could tell that Julian was uncomfortable with their surroundings. Apparently, children gorging themselves on sweets, rides, and cartoon animals was unnerving situation for the guy to cope with. The older man chose to flash those around him a smile fit for a mugshot in the obituaries; the kind of comatose expression that barely upturned your lips and screamed “I would rather be anywhere but here”. Well, Josh could care less. He had been given the honor of choosing the location of their date. The boy couldn’t help it that his tastes included cavorting about like a spastic toddler on LSD. As Julian’s mood deflated, Josh’s quickly ballooned. All of his joy was etched into a lopsided grin on his face.

Josh stumbled back a few steps as he was swiftly lifted from the firm grasp of the mischievous park bench; he was hauled up like some… less than desired treasure. He was thankful to be back on his feet, but with his new location he also made a new discovery. The boy could feel something rough and textured under his touch. That couldn’t be Julian’s skin?! Josh didn’t think the man could be that clueless about moisturizers and lotion. And he definitely shook any thoughts that the man was too ‘rugged’ for something like a medicated ointment. The boy spared a hesitant glance at the doctor’s arms. So he was hurt? How did Josh manage miss something like that? The boy’s eyes flicked up and locked with Julian’s briefly. They were twin pools; each one was filled to the brim with churning curiosity. Of course, he would never ask about an injury directly. Still, there were more round about methods of inquiry.

Josh released Julian’s arm and saw that the man was about to speak. He readied himself for whatever marvelous words would fall from his mouth…. Hmm, so he had the same opinion about this ‘date’ as Josh. The boy’s grin faded to a smirk as he gave a blasé nod, “I was about to say the same thing myself.” He paused giving the rest of Julian’s statement some thought. At least, before he deftly scrounged up an answer from the murkiest pits of his brain. “Hmm, I can’t really say why I decided to bid on you. I guess I like romping around with scholarly men just as much as the next guy. Wouldn’t you agree?” He quizzically raised an eyebrow almost matching Julian’s own expression.

“Yes.” He followed at Julian’s heels and skillfully moved in front of him. It was a far fetched guess, but Josh doubted that he knew where anything was here. It just didn’t seem like the man’s style to frolic merrily on rides… or watch little boys from park benches. “Where should we start?” The question was aimed at Julian just as much as himself.