Spiral Bound Journal

Welcome to Cold Weather Country

"Oh, thank goodness we're out of the wind," Morgan as he and Dana stepped into the mall.

"Yeah, the wind is a bit much for early November," Dana agreed. "Once that dies down it'll get back to being a nice day."

"A day we are spending inside for some reason."

Dana stuck out her tongue. "Well, seeing as how the warmest clothes you have happen to be hoodies and one down vest, we need to get you set up with proper warm weather gear. Come on."

They walked over to the escalators at the end of the narrow hall. After a short trip, they arrived on the ground floor and walked toward the center of the mall. As they walked along, the number of people increased bit by bit. Still, Morgan glanced around, his eyebrows half-arched as he scanned the somewhat thin crowds.

"I'm surprised how much room we have here even though it's a Saturday," he remarked.

"Southdale is probably the emptiest of the 'Dale' malls," Dana told him, "but it has the stores I wanted to take you to. Plus do you really want to deal with the Rosedale crowds?"

Morgan shook his head. "Considering we barely found a parking space there on a Wednesday afternoon a few months ago, I don't want to know what it's like right now."

"That's the correct answer."

The two of them walked an ambling circuit of the ground floor, peaking at the various storefronts. To Dana's delight, she noticed Morgan stare at the Banana Republic display the longest. The display hinted at a deep toned but not all neutral color palette.

"You said I'd need a sweater, right?" he asked.

More like 20, but that's neither here nor there.

"It certainly helps," Dana answered. "I imagine Quinn could give you one or two of his, but the sleeves might be a bit long on you."

"Probably. Well, let's see what they have in here."

Morgan walked in first, giving Dana an appreciated rear view. The employees offered them a boilerplate greeting, although Dana spotted the woman behind the register staring at Morgan for a while. While Morgan had no clue of the woman's stare, Dana kept an eye on her to determine what would happen next. Soon, she found Morgan over by one of the display tables and trotted to join him.

"See anything so far?"

Morgan dragged his finger along a maroon V-neck sweater. "Maybe, although I'm not much of a V-neck short."

"A long sleeve tee can help with those, I've found, if you're interested."

"I'll think about it."

They wandered around the store for several minutes. Morgan stopped at a couple more tables, each time assessing the sweaters on display. As he contemplated his options, Dana kept an eye on the store employees. While the woman at the register had a customer, she noticed other employees trying and failing to catch a glimpse of them. It was hard to tell which of them entranced the employees more.

"I think I've narrowed it down to these."

Dana blinked and turned to face Morgan. In the time she was doing surveillance, her boyfriend had amassed several sweaters. She even spotted a sliver of maroon in the pile.

"Did you want to spot by a fitting room and make sure they all fit the way you want?"

Morgan pondered this. "Maybe I should. Where are the fitting rooms, anyway?"

That's how Dana found herself standing right next to a full length white door. True, she could have perched herself on a bench, but she figured the less either of them had to walk to scope out Morgan's choices the better. So far, Morgan had discarded a blue striped sweater because the sleeves. Dana pouted a bit but made a mental note to see if that one could be a Christmas present for Quinn. The door opened, and Morgan stepped out wearing the maroon sweater. Dana's jaw sagged just a bit at the sight.

"For being a V-Neck, it's actually pretty nice," he remarked. "A little heavier than I expected, too."

Dana cleared her throat. "While the winters here aren't always icy Arctic nightmares, you would benefit from something on the thicker side."

Morgan shot her a lecherous grin. "I think I can handle that."

"Oy! Not what I meant."

"But judging by the look on your face-"

"I take it you're getting that one, then."

"I'd say so."

"Cool. Great. Let's see what else you grabbed."

In the end, Morgan ended up taking half of what he grabbed. Along with the maroon V-Neck, he selected a gray pullover and a deep brown 1/4 zip style. Dana appreciated how the brown sweater was almost a match for his hair and eyes. They dragged themselves over to the register. Much to Dana's consternation, they got the woman - Ariana - that she'd spotted earlier.

"Hello," Ariana greeted them. "Did you find everything you need?"

"I did," Morgan told her.

That made Ariana stop for a second. "It IS you!"

As I expected, Dana kept to herself.

"Me?" Morgan asked.

"My boyfriend watches you all the time. He's been trying to talk his friends out of the latest crypto project being promoted by Takashi69."

"Ah, yes, the Uranus Rings token. Can't believe the names of some of these coins lately."

"Me neither," Dana added. "I miss the days of slightly less obvious giveaway names like Lunar Module."

"Yeah, that looks classy now."

"Ah, the halcyon days of the, uh, early 20202s. Christ."

Dana caught a glimpse of Ariana giving them a look that teetered between surprised and disappointment. Ariana took one of the sweaters and began scanning.

"Anyway, so my boyfriend has started showing his friends some of your videos. A few of them still invested, but a couple have at least held off for the time being."

"Hey, I consider that a success," Morgan told her.

"He will not believe this!"

It took a bit of time, but soon Morgan had paid for his sweaters. Bag in hand, he and Dana walked out of the store. Dana waited until they were several steps away from the entrance before saying anything.

"Fifty bucks says she watches you alongside her boyfriend," she said.

Morgan flushed. "Maybe some of the time."

Dana cocked her head in thought. "Oh. Oh, I'm gonna try to not think about that too much."

At that, Morgan snickered. "I know before we met you were too polite to do so, but you'd be amazed by how many women have slid into my DMs even before my divorce. It was a bit of a surprise given how my audience is still strongly male leaning."

"The real question is have any of the guys slid into your DMs?"

"I've had to report about a dozen different guys for unsolicited dick pics, so I'd say the answer is yes."

"That...was not the answer I was expecting."

"You're probably not as shocked as I was when I started getting said dick pics. That didn't really start until my divorce, though. I stopped getting them when we went public, but I still get guys trying to proposition me from time to time."

"I wonder how many of them would react like Ariana if they met me."

"Hmm...probably all. Now while I got a few sweaters, I did want to stop in Gap to see if there's anything in there I want."

"Sounds good. Lead the way."

With that, Morgan and Dana trekked back to the center of the mall in search of the familiar deep blue storefront.