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"What was that noise?" A man's voice cut through the quiet of the park, catching Marie’s attention and taking it away from her phone.
"What noise?" The same noise he had heard came again from the depths of the woman's giant handbag.
"That noise."
"Oh, that, that's nothing, don't worry about it."
"That is not nothing, that sounded li-"
"Did you remember to get the sandwiches from the good deli, the one that uses that super crunchy bread and the extra strong cheese? You know I'm not a fan of the weak stuff."
"Yes I went to Freemans…seriously, what is that noise? Don't tell me it's nothing."
"It's noth- hey, leave my bag alone you!"
The sound of a short scuffle broke out behind her and Marie desperately wanted to turn around and look but knew that would probably be creepy. She didn't want to be that weirdo that sat on benches in the park and stared at people who were trying to eat their lunch.
"A duck? Seriously? You have a duck in your bag? Where the hell did you get a duck from?"
The man sounded so done that Marie had to stifle her giggle before they heard her.
"It's only a baby one," the woman argued.
"That is not the point. You can't keep it."
"Sure I can, he can float in the bath or something."
"No he- he cannot float in the bath!"
"Why?" The woman sounded shocked and there was a surprised little quack as she evidently grabbed the duck to examine it. "Are his little feets OK? Can't he swim? Don't all ducks float?"
"I meant he can't just float in the tub, he needs a lot more than that," the man's sigh floated on the breeze yet she still heard it perfectly.
"What else does he need? I already gave him a name, it's Fernando."
"Fernando? It's a duck!"
"So that means he can't have a fancy name? What are you, a speciesest now?"
"That's not even a word!"
"Look, he's fine, look how cute he is!"
"Where did you even get him?"
"Dude on a street corner sold him to me for an ice cream."
"An ice- you bought a duck from a man on the street?"
"Well, yeah, wouldn't you have?"
"No! I wouldn't buy a duck from anyone!"
"Seems like that's a you problem right there. Gimme my sandwich, he might like some of the softer bread in the middle."
"Don't fill him up on bread, he needs proper food designed for his small stomach."
"Because he's a baby!" the woman cooed.
Marie heard another tiny noise from the duck and even she had to admit that it sounded pretty cute.
"You need to give him to a sanctuary or a farm or something."
"That's far too sensible, besides I've adopted him now. You don't just buy a duck to give him away again, that's mean. I'm his mumma now. He's imprinted on me."
"When did you buy him?"
"Like an hour ago. The dude said he was the last one and no one wanted him and that he was going to drown him if no one took him."
"Drown a duck?" The man didn't sound too convinced by that idea.
"It was a legitimate concern, OK? It's not like we don't have anywhere for him to stay. Please?"
"No! You are not keeping the duck, there's a pond over there, you can let him go later. He's probably been taken from there anyway and his mother is probably looking for him."
"The man said he hatched him himself."
"He also sold him for an ice-cream, you can't believe anything he says."
"Scott said I can keep him."
"Why am I not surprised? I don't care, you aren't keeping the duck. It's a duckling, you don't even know how to look after a duckling."
"I could learn."
"No. Promise me you'll put him back into the wild."
"I'll promise to think about it."
"No, you'll do it."
The woman huffed loudly, obviously sulking.
"Well, you're no fun."
"So you constantly tell me."
"Why am I with you again?"
"It's a mystery. Here," Marie heard the rustling of a paper bag. "Eat your sandwich, I made sure they put only the thinnest spread of pickle on it."
"Thank you," the woman took the sandwich and the sound of more rustling came from behind as the woman unwrapped it and started to eat.
"That duck just pecked my sandwich," the man said a few minutes later, in between them chatting about their week and the woman telling him some gossip about a woman named Cleo.
"He's hungry, can I just get him some food and fatten him up a bit before I release him? Give him a good meal?"
"Maybe," the man conceded.
"Here Ferdy, have another bit." The duck quacked happily.
"You could at least feed him from your own sandwich."
"Yours is wholemeal, that's gotta be better for him, right?"
"Probably," the man sighed.
Marie listened with half an ear to the rest of their conversation as they finished their lunches and started saying their goodbyes.
"Remember your promise," the man reminded her.
"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled but she didn't sound like she really meant it.
Far too curious for her own good, Marie turned in her seat and glanced casually over at them.
The man had reddish hair streaked through with pale grey, although it was brushed neatly back from his face in a side part that swooped over to curl at his temple. He had on a pair of wire rimmed glasses that did nothing to hide the dazzling turquoise colour of his eyes. He smiled at the woman, the little lines around his eyes deepening and Marie realised he was actually quite handsome. A silver fox they called them. He was dressed quite normally in casual jeans and a shirt covered with a light jacked, but the woman was not.
She had bright lilac hair and was wearing some kind of mishmash of clothing styles, a long floaty skirt that looked like a patchwork blanket, a black peasants blouse but with a biker jacket on top and clumpy army boots. She returned the man's smile with one of her own, her eyes crinkling in much the same way his had, then playfully stuck her tongue out at him.
Marie could honestly say she was surprised, they had sounded much younger. To her anyone over the age of thirty was nearing ancient times, so it was nice to see that older people could still have fun.
"Such abuse even after I bought you lunch," the man said, standing up. It was then that Marie saw they were holding hands. He tugged her to her feet and handed her her bag.
"Release the duck."
"Maybe," she retorted. She placed the bag back down and lifted up on her tiptoes, her arms looping around his neck.
"Bribing me with kisses won't work," he told her, but he kissed her anyway.
Marie had expected them to share a quick, chaste kiss, since they were in public and you know, old, but she'd never been more wrong.
The man's arms slipped around her waist, pulling her in closer and Marie had to look away as one of his hands drifted down to her plump backside. How embarrassing.
"I have to go," the man said, breaking their kiss. "I have a lecture at two and you know they don't give those spots out easily."
"Bullshit, you know they begged you to talk, you're too modest."
"Modesty is not a crime," he told her, releasing his hold on her and stepping back.
"Fine, go, leave me and our son to fend for ourselves."
"You're not keeping the duck."
"Yeah yeah, go do your boring lecture thing. I'll see you later."
"Woman, you're a liability," he grumbled as he walked away.
The woman giggled to herself as he left. Turning she saw Marie still staring and smiled at her.
"You good, kid?"
"Yeah," Marie blushed, embarrassed at being caught staring at them. "Sorry, I didn't mean to watch you. It was just nice to see that ol-"
"Older people can still do park dates and kiss like you teenagers?"
"Yeah, I guess..."
"When you find the right person you'll know it, don't let age stop you from enjoying yourself. Besides, I'm only 54, I'm hardly over the hill," the woman laughed as she reached for her bag.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to imply-" Now that she could see her properly Marie saw that the woman was actually still quite pretty, even if her eyeliner was a bit too young for her.
"It's fine," the woman laughed. "I was only joking."
Marie smiled back, the woman's friendliness putting her at ease. As she watched the woman picked up her back carefully and hung it from her shoulder.
"Guess I had better go, I need to get this little one some proper food." She opened her bag to show Marie the contents as she passed, revealing a cute little duckling nestled in one of the inner pockets on a bed of kleenex.
"I'm keeping the duck," the woman told her.
"That man won't be happy with that," Marie laughed.
The woman shrugged, not looking the slightest bit bothered.
"Believe me I've brought home worse and no doubt I'll do worse in the future. If he's not used to me now, with all the years we've been married he's never going to be."
"How long have you been married? Marie had to ask, it couldn't be that long, surely.
"Twenty-five years in October, he knows me well enough by now and I him. I can guarantee you that he'll have gone online to look up duck care and will have ordered everything we need for little Ferdy by the time he gets home. He always does. He grumbles at me but he always gives in."
"That's nice," Marie said, unable to believe that the couple she had seen hadn't been in the first flushes of dating as she had assumed but been married for so long, longer than her parents actually and they barely spoke to each other. She just hoped that she was lucky enough to find someone she still liked after all that time, let alone someone she'd snog in the park on a Wednesday lunchtime.
Marie watched as the woman walked away, chatting to the little duck in her handbag and Marie sent up a heartfelt prayer that she would be half as interesting as that when she got older.