Are you cold?

☆☆☆

      Winter 2017; 17.01       It’s very cold outside, the wind blows forcefully in your face, scratching you with prickly snowflakes. It’s already starting to get dark, and we certainly won’t have time to get home.       I began to freeze: I felt like the tips of my ungloved fingers were going numb, my nose was noticeably red from the cold, and sometimes it turned so red that I involuntarily began to look like a clown. Not heredity, but mockery. He walked calmly, even, rather, stately. He walked proudly, only his head was bowed down, and he himself was very slouched. He was looking at something below, as if he was afraid to step on someone invisible.       We walked close to each other, the sleeves of our jackets touched and, as we moved, rubbed against each other with a pleasant rustling sound. We were eighteen, we had known each other since the sixth grade, and only started communicating in the seventh.       My life was already quite “interesting”, but after moving to a new school it became much more exciting.       He walked next to me - and it was the best feeling in the universe. He was also cold, and it made me feel warm. But this warmth was not enough for me to warm up completely. Only the area in the chest, the fire in the heart, flared up and glowed more and more. "Are you cold?" I asked timidly without even looking at him.       But out of the corner of my eye I noticed how he shook his head in denial and went back into his thoughts. He was obviously lying, judging by his face, hidden deep in his fur collar, and his fingers, which he kneaded so furiously to keep warm. "And you?" He asked me just as timidly as I did. “To be honest, a little, yes,” I muttered and, in confirmation of the above, hid my hands in my pockets. An awkward silence hung in the air after my answer. I felt the tension coming from him, how he hesitated, as if he did not dare to do something. But what exactly? "Can we go somewhere?" he suddenly suggested, finally looking me straight in the eyes. I didn't turn away. “Let’s warm ourselves up...” he swallowed the end of the last word he said and fell silent.       To say that it was unexpected is to say nothing. I kept thinking that only I could come out with some simply insignificant nonsense at absolutely any moment. Although I probably got carried away here, this could not be called nonsense. “It’s probably possible,” I muttered somehow rudely, with a hint of disgust, and without even expecting it from myself, but immediately realizing what I said, I hastened to add: “I-I mean, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be so rude.. Sometimes I I can't control the intonation of my voice, please excuse me... “Come on,” he answered simply. “You don’t have to ask for forgiveness for such trifles, nothing bad will happen.”       I exhaled with relief, and we headed towards the nearest cafe.