Page 56 of Perfect Date
“Fair enough,” I say.
“I tend to like the ones that go on horrible dates with weird dudes and who seems to be a bit… accident prone.”
“Counting yourself as a weird dude, huh?” I tease as I get out of the truck.
“No way, I’m the exception.”
“Okay, sure.”
I laugh as we walk inside the store. He grabs a cart and I feel a little nervous. I’ve never grocery shopped with a man before. Not just that, but this feels so… domesticated or something and I can’t quite wrap my mind around it.
We start in the produce section and when he walks straight up to the watermelons squeezing and checking them for ripeness, I laugh thinking of his early comment about liking to pick out watermelons and avocados.
It’s when I join him when he moves to the avocado display and hold a few to check for ripeness that the first comment comes, “Oh hey there, Charlie,” a voice says and has me looking up. I recognize a patient immediately and start to smile when he says, “I heard you had a realcrappyday the other day.”
My face immediately falls. This is exactly what I was afraid of and didn’t want to deal with today. I set the avocados down and take a step back, a few thoughts racing through my mind. Do I walk out? Do I ignore him? I mean, he’s a patient so I don’t want to be rude. Maybe better to get through this now-it’s certainly bound to happen. And shouldn’t I be able to be a bit lighter hearted and see a bit of the humor in this that others likely do, even if I felt humiliated and sick?
The choice is taken from me when Justin frowns, “Seriously, Seth? Everyone in town remembers the time you got so drunk at the Spring Fling Festival due to too much time in the beer tent that you shit your pants. You shouldn’t talk.”
My mouth drops open.
Then closes.
Then opens again.
Seth’s face turns bright red and he mumbles something I can’t make out and hurries away.
“Oh my god,” I turn to Justin wide-eyed. “I can’t believe you said that.”
“Serves him right,” he shrugs and then simply resumes squeezing avocados. “These are good ones. What else do you need?”
We move around the store, making random conversation as I grab things here and there. We talk about such randomness like kinds of cheeses we like, our favorite baked goods which starts a feud over what type of cookies are best, and him confessing he’s an Oreo addict.
“Hey Justin,” a female voice says and we stop to turn toward it.
“Oh, hey Lucinda, how are you?” Justin asks kindly.
I swear a wicked gleam comes to her eyes when she looks at me briefly, then back at him, “Oh you know, I’ve been working so hard. I’m totallypoopedout.”
Justin’s eyes narrow suspiciously and my stomach drops, “Is that right?”
“Yeah, it totallystinks,” she says but she’s looking right at me when she says it. What the hell is wrong with people? I mean at least Seth probably just thought he was being funny making a joke, this chick clearly doesn’t like me even though she doesn’t know me.
Stupid small town.
“Oh, mind your business Lucinda,” Justin says.
“Excuse me?” She asks surprised, in a totally indignant tone.
“You heard me.We all remember the time Manny was at your house and was using his handy ‘tools’ to fix more than your kitchen sink!”
She gasps loudly and I look around us when I hear a few choked laughs from those that overheard, “That’s not true!” She says before storming off in anger.
“I can’t believe you said that,” I cover my mouth trying to stifle a laugh.
“She deserved it,” he shrugs simply.“The upside of a small town that likes to gossip. Now, what were we talking about? Oh yeah, in your opinion which is better Kraft macaroni and cheese or Velveeta shells and cheese? This is a very important, relationship ending question should you choose incorrectly.”
Playing along while he continues banter like this, something in my chest tightens. It’s when he holds up orange juice and asks me if I prefer, “No pulp, all the pulp, or only some pulp,” that I realize I more than like Justin. I really,reallylike him. I don’t want to be just fake dating him. I want to date him for real. I want him to more than like me too.
