Lego Horses - Dogmatix

I hadn’t known him long. I don’t truly think I could say I knew him at all, but I enjoyed his company none the less.

You might think it an odd relationship, that two people could meet once a fortnight, spend a few hours sat side by side in comfortable silence, but we did.

I don’t know when it began precisely, it didn’t seem of great note when it started, but I know it was when I was still fairly new to the city, and the weather was fine, Sarah hadn’t bought me my wool coat yet, so I’d guess at around 18 months ago.

Like I said, I was new to the city. I’d asked for a transfer when I met Sarah, getting the Visa was no trouble and they were happy for me to make the move across the pond, and for the first time in a while, I think I was happy too.

Sarah would meet me for lunch most days, but not Tuesdays. Tuesdays Sarah worked in the deli and I had the hour to myself. At first I’d pick something up from the sandwich lady’s cart and eat it at my desk, but... I mean, there’s only so many weeks you can eat Ham and Mustard on white without growing bored, I didn’t want to be the cliché American, but I was a feeling a little home sick and I was dying for a Big Mac, so I took my first solo venture into the city. 5 minutes and £4 later, I was sitting on a bench outside Monument trying to juggle a copy of Private Eye I’d borrowed from a colleagues desk and a Coke, whilst my phone bleeped The Star Spangled Banner from my jacket pocket. I’d set the ring tone a few weeks earlier to bug Sarah’s older brother who’d mocked me for days about which side of the road to drive on and the correct spelling of colo(u)r, but It’d been bugging Sarah and I allot recently and this call was the final straw, and as unpatriotic as this may sound, The Star Spangled Banner had to go. The call was from Sarah, she’d found a couple of minutes to call me & check how I was doing, I got half way through answering when the Coke I was balancing between my knees began to slip spilling on my right foot, soaking my shoe and sock, I swore and of course Sarah thought I was swearing at her, she sounded upset before making an excuse and ending the call. My first solo trip in the city wasn’t going quite to plan. I heard a chuckle from the next bench, the old fellow sitting there seemed to find the situation I was in a little amusing, but having salvaged a little of my coke I was determined to finish what was left of my lunch. I couldn’t ignore the old bastard though, every time I looked up from my magazine, I could see him, looking at me, smiling, smiling, laughing, then I was laughing, the two of us roaring with laughter. Eventually he handed me a small towel from a leather satchel he’d had propped up by his feet, then still laughing and having not said a word disappeared around a corner.