We're Just Looking — Oversized Tee

You say it almost together, before either of you has properly crossed the doorway. We're just looking. The person behind the counter smiles and says to take your time, which you immediately interpret in different directions. One of you has spotted a blue bowl. The other has found a small brass duck with the bearing of somebody who used to run the place. Neither discovery appeared on the day's list. Fortunately, looking has very few entry requirements.

Within ten minutes, you have planned a dinner for which you own neither the table nor the necessary number of friends. The bowl would look lovely there. Your companion, meanwhile, is finding out what the duck weighs. You have known this person for years, and still there are afternoons when their taste arrives carrying information you could not possibly have prepared for. You call each other over. You offer careful opinions. One of those opinions is simply a long silence followed by asking where they would put it.

Eventually you step back outside with empty hands and quite a lot to discuss. You liked the bowl. They liked the duck. Liking them did not require either object to come home and begin competing for space beside the toaster. The person in the shop was nice, the rain has stopped, and you have learned that someone you love thinks a brass duck is a reasonable thing to weigh. A few doors down, another window catches their attention. They look at you. You know the arrangement.

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