Buying groceries and other household stuff is one of my favorite things to do during weekends, but since my brother unexpectedly planned a sudden outing tomorrow, I decided to do it tonight after closing the coffee shop.
Jack and I weren’t together today because she was on duty at our newly opened store. I just sent her a message and let her know that I’ll be going home late tonight. She didn’t ask anything, she just replied with a thumbs up emoji. Tss! I know for sure she and Dale are just doing magic inside her room!
It’s a Friday evening and it’s starting to get noisy with teenagers and some adults who are gathering outside. Since they have no school and have no work the next day, they will definitely spend the night wandering around.
But it’s the opposite inside the supermarket because there are fewer customers buying … which is convenient for me because the aisles are now spacious and I can do my shopping properly without bumping into other customers’ trolley.
I was in a pasta section with a medium-sized trolley in front of me, contemplating whether to get spaghetti or lasagna for tomorrow’s event. I didn’t notice that someone was following me as I was busy thinking about which pasta I should get.
“Hmm… which is better, white spaghetti or lasagna?” I mumbled, holding the two packs of pasta in my hands. Spaghetti on my left and lasagna on my right. Since we all love both pasta dishes, it’s kinda hard to choose. “Haist!” I loudly sigh.
“Why not just get both if you’re having a hard time choosing?”
“Huh!” I flinched slightly when I heard a voice followed by a chuckle behind me and when I turned around my breath suddenly caught in my throat.
“Jesus Christ, David you startled me!” I was surprised to see him… well, confused at the same time.
“Oops! I’m sorry, I thought you already saw me earlier.” he said scratching the back of his neck with a boyish grin appearing on his lips.
“No, I didn’t notice you because if I had I wouldn’t have been shocked by your presence and when you talked behind my back”.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,”
“It’s fine, but anyway, what are you doing here?” I already asked it out loud before I realized it was a stupid question as he stared at me as if silently asking me ‘seriously?’
“Buying groceries and other stuff… I guess?” I heard the question mark at the end.
-‘Yeah, indeed’- I thought, biting my lower lip. What else do you do inside the supermarket besides shopping, right?
“What I mean is that… don’t you have a schedule tonight at the hospital?” I asked and the grin he gave me before answering my question made me stare at him even more.
“Nah! Nothing at the moment,” he replied with a shrug.
I continued to stare at him upon hearing what he replied. Why did the answer he gave me seem the same as last week? Also, why does he never seem to have had any hospital schedules for the past few weeks, which seems so impossible knowing his position?
“Ahh… so you’re not busy,” I said nodding slowly.
I think I’ve been seeing him a lot these past few weeks. I was wondering but I couldn’t ask him about it. Last month was when he went to the coffee shop, the next day was at the park, the following week was at the restaurant where Jack and I thought about having lunch. And the next day, we met at church and now here at the supermarket. I don’t know if it was just a coincidence or if it was fate that made us meet. Hmm… I hope it’s the latter, but it’s now impossible because he’s already taken.
“No,” he simply replied, shaking his head.
“I haven’t seen Tanya with you lately.”
“She’s busy,”
I couldn’t help raising an eyebrow. Why is that the answer he always gives me whenever I ask him about his girlfriend? I wanted to ask him more but he bit me before I could even open my mouth again.
“What’s up, have you decided which one you prefer out of the two?”
“Oh…” I suddenly realized that I was still holding the pastas. I then looked at him, silently asking for his help.
“You know what, just get them both.” He took them one by one from my hands and then put them in my trolley. “You’re good at cooking and I hope to taste it again,” he said smiling and pinching the tip of nose at the same time. A simple gesture that made me seem paralized in my spot. “Come on, I’ll help you find the ingredients,”
To my surprise, he took the trolley and started pushing them towards the sauces section while I was left standing and analyzing what he had said.
-‘Help me find the ingredients? But why?’-
But these questions left hanging in the air as he already called my attention, motioning for me to come over to where he was.
“How many sauce packs do you need?” He asked, waving the spaghetti sauce pack in front of me.
“Wait—”
“And the mushrooms?”
“Uhm—”
“I know you love mushrooms, how many cans do you need?”
“David—”
“And ohh… the basil leaves and Italian spices are great—”
“David wait!” He stopped talking. I finally got his attention. “What are you doing?”
“Uhm… I’m helping you pick up the ingredients,” he shrugged, grinning.
“Yeah, I know, but why— I mean, why are you doing this?”
“Because I want to,”
“David, you don’t have to.”
“I know but I love to,”
“But why? You don’t have to help me. Thank you, but you know I can do it on my own, besides, I thought you’re here to buy some stuff too?”
“Yes, but I can do it later. For now, I want to help you so, let’s continue getting what you need.”
“David wait…” I said grabbing his arm that made him turn and look at me. “You don’t have to help me, I can do it myself.”
“But I insist, so let’s go!”
And there… I was left speechless with my mouth hanging in mid air. I wonder why he’s doing it. But it wasn’t even a minute when he called my name again.
“Sam…”
I held my breath when I heard him call my name and now he was walking back to where I was.
“We are not doing anything wrong if that’s what bothering you,”
I blinked… twice… thrice… as I stared at him.
“Yes, that’s what really bothers me.” I took a deep breath. “You have a girlfriend and it’s not right to see you hanging around, buying stuff or doing this and that with your ex-girlfriend!” I emphasized the word ex-girlfriend. And honestly, I was expecting him to explain in more detail but all he did was just chuckled at me.
“I’m serious, David!”
“I’m sorry,” he finally stopped laughing. His expression slowly turning serious now. “You always think about Tanya,”
“Because she is your girlfriend!”
He sighed.
“Sam, we’re friends and again, we are not doing anything wrong, besides, I know any friend would do something like this. Why, is it wrong for me to help my friend?”
I didn’t answer again. I don’t know, but I always feel like something is wrong when he’s around me or whenever I talk to him.
“Shall we?”
I sighed and just let him push the trolley for me.