To The Single Dad in the Store by J.S. Cooper
Chapter Two
“Oh my gosh,Shelby, you will not believe what just happened,” I whispered into the phone as I approached the stacks of meat. I looked around to make sure that no one was listening to me. “I literally just told a widower he sucked.”
“What are you talking about, Nellie?” Shelby sounded confused.
“Remember that little boy that hit me just now?”
“Um, no.”
“Oh, my gosh, Shelby, were you paying attention to me when I was speaking to you on the phone just now?”
“I mean, you asked me what steak I wanted, right?”
“Yeah. But remember I—never mind. Anyway, I’m picking up the steaks now. You’re going to come over around seven?”
“Yeah. I should be done with my homework by then.”
“Okay, sounds good. Oh, and I think I told you that Hunter will be there, right?”
“No, you didn’t say he was going to be there.”
“Oh, oops, well yes, he’s in town so he will be there.” Hunter was my older brother and he was currently letting me live in his gorgeous house, rent-free.
“Is Birdie going to be there as well?”
“No, she’s in San Francisco. He’s just come up for the weekend, I guess to get some stuff to take back with him.”
“Okay. That’s so cool that your parents are going to still let you live in the house even though he’s not there.”
I snorted. “It’s not that cool. They want me to get a roommate, and you can’t do it.”
“I can’t get out of my lease,” Shelby sighed. “I would’ve moved in with you if I could.”
“Yeah. Well, they’re saying that my older cousin might come down, and she’s even worse than Hunter. I think she’s like a born-again Christian or something.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means she’s not interested in guys, and she certainly will not be happy if I have any guys coming over or any parties. I’m sure she’ll go and tell my parents right away if I have guys over. And that’s the last thing I need because—” I paused as I felt someone tugging my sleeve. “Hey, hold on, Shelby.”
I looked around, but there was no one there. I felt the tug again. This time, I looked down and there was the little boy who had hit me with the cart.
“Excuse me,” he said.
“Hi. Yeah, can I help you?”
“I just came to say sorry for hitting you with the cart earlier. I wasn’t paying attention and I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he said, his eyes looking everywhere but into my own.
“Hey, that’s okay. I understand you made a mistake. What’s your name?”
“Joshua.”
“Well, thanks for apologizing, Joshua. I really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.” He said as he went running away. “Okay, can I get ice cream now?” he yelled.
I laughed to myself, but I was happy. Douchebag though he was, it was nice that the guy had had his son apologize.
“What’s going on over there, Nellie?” Shelby asked me.
“You will not believe the afternoon I’ve had in the grocery store.”
“Girl, you’ve got more activity going on in the grocery store than I do at the club,” Shelby laughed. “You have got real game.”
“Ha ha, very funny. You know I do not have any game. Anyway, he’s got three kids.”
“Who’s got three kids?”
“The hot guy in the store.”
“Um, what hot guy in the store? What are you talking about?” I knew I had all of Shelby’s attention now. “Oh, my gosh, do not tell me that you hooked up with a hot guy in the grocery store?”
“Are you frigging crazy?” I rolled my eyes as I picked up the packages of steak. “Of course I didn’t hook up with a guy in the grocery store. Do you want me to get arrested? How would that even be possible?”
She giggled. “They have family restrooms in the grocery store.”
“So you think I just saw a guy in the grocery store and I took him back to the family restroom and had sex with him. Are you joking, Shelby?”
“What? I don’t know what you’re up to.”
“Shelby, really?”
“What?” she laughed. “I mean, okay, maybe that sounds like a plot for a porno, but pornos are inspired by real life.”
“Um, they might be inspired by real life, but they’re not inspired by my real life. You know I haven’t hooked up in ages.”
“Yeah, true,” she laughed. “Well, maybe go and grab him and take him to the family restroom.”
“Oh my God, you’re incorrigible. Of course, I’m not going to do that. I will see you later, okay?”
I hung up the phone and put it back in my handbag. Shelby was absolutely ridiculous.
I made my way back to my cart just in time to see the hot guy from earlier reaching into my cart. What was he doing? Why was he … My jaw dropped as I realized he was taking items from my cart!
I walked over to him and crossed my arms. “What are you doing?”
“Just getting some cantaloupe and some strawberries and—”
“That’s my cart. You’re taking stuff out of my cart. I already picked that stuff.”
“I thought it was up for grabs. It just looked like an abandoned cart to me.” He shrugged. “Who leaves their cart full of groceries unattended?”
“Me. I did. I just went to get some steaks and—“
“I don’t know. You snooze, you lose.” He grinned. “Come on, guys,” he said to his kids before looking back at me. I could tell from his eyes that he was laughing at me.
I just stared at him, my mouth open in shock. Who was this guy? And how was that funny? Who took grocery items from someone else’s cart? It was absolutely ridiculous. Though it did remind me of a TV episode I’ve seen once of King of Queens where Carrie was stealing items for a Thanksgiving dinner from another lady’s cart. But that was a TV show. This sort of stuff didn’t happen in real life, did it?
“Well, have a nice day, Nellie. Until we meet again.” He winked and then walked away, his kids following behind him.
Not only did I not know what he’d taken from my cart, but I also had to find the items again. That was going to be a good twenty minutes wasted. What was my life?
I sighed. There really wasn’t anything else I could do other than run up to him and tell him off again, but given how that had gone the first time, there didn’t seem to be much point.