Chapter 1- Another Day at Work

Another tough shift. Down a few people due to illness, or so they say. Yes I have a cold even though it is 75 degrees with a perfect spring breeze. I believe that one. At least pretend a stomach condition. I feel worn out. I still have a few hours to go before I can leave. Pushing myself to get the work down, so I would not leave the closing shift with the brunt of the load. I should not complain. Business is picking up again and I rather not get laid off due to lack of sales. I walk back to the cooler to load up another cart. The cooler is getting bare. What we really need out on the floor is not in our cooler yet we have 10 cases of snap peas. Why in the world did he order 10 cases. The most we sell is 2 cases a day. What I could have used was 10 cases of conventional bananas. Exiting the cooler I almost run into the Rick the meat department clerk. But that did not stop me from tripping over the u-boat and fall on my butt.

"Sorry Bella" he says as he turns the corner. He was going a bit too fast to slow down. It might seem rude to the casual observer that he just kept on going, but falling over happens frequently for me. He alone has seen me trip over things more times to even keep a running count. That would be a funny thing to see. Instead of those stupid number screens you see at other stores announcing who is next, you would see the number of falls Bella has made during the time at the company. Hell they even named a safety hazard after me. It is the movable base to bread racks that we use to prepare the lettuce and cooking greens. They call it the Bella Trap. It is guaranteed to catch me if left unattended. People make it a habit of letting me know when one is in the area.

I bring out my cart towards the front of the store. I take a few moments before working on it to pick up some product that ended on the floor from a wrongly built display and customers ransacking the stands. I notice a man with an interesting shade of hair, like brass, no copper. He was pushing a cart while reading a cookbook. At this store that is not an unusual occurrence. We get the avid cook.

He looks up with a confused look and spots me. His expression changes to one of relief.

"Can you help me. I am making dinner tonight and I can't seem to find some of these ingredients"

"Sure, show me which ones in the book you are looking for." I respond. "Ah I see your problem. You see almost everything in the department has more that one name. Some even have three. Well at least that is what I have found. You are looking for Endive. But there is different forms of it. Since you are making a soup I suggest escarole. It is green leaf lettuce that handle being cooked." I rattle off. Staying all business kept my ability to converse in tacked. If I for one minute let my mind comprehend that the most gorgeous man to ever walk the planet was standing in front of me with this delectable grin helplessly at my mercy, I might melt into a pile of goo. Oh no too late. I was so wrapped up in my head that I missed what he said next. I actually had to ask him to repeat himself.

"Thank you for helping me. Can you help me with this one?"

When I was able to get myself back to looking like I have some knowledge about produce, I helped him fine the other ingredients that he was looking for. He gave me a dazzling smile as he left my department and headed toward the meat department.

After he left I actually had to run into the vegetable cooler to help with my sudden problem. My body felt like it was over heating. That is where the prep girls found me. I guess one of them saw the guy I was talking to and totally understood my situation. It did not take them long before the nice girls turned into dirty girls with there inappropriate comments on my customer. I sat there in the cooler thinking some lucky someone is getting a delicious dinner tonight.

The shift came to a close and I stopped by my friend house on the way home. Rose had a place in between my place and work. It was easy to make a stop over on days like these.

She opened the door and asked what I wanted to drink. I proceeded to try to forget my busy day by asking Rose about hers as we both downed our shots.

For a girl that looked like Rosalie you would think she would have no problems in the man department. She was a strong woman with killer looks that faired well when we went out. We never had a problem getting free drinks and enjoying a few games of pool with the guys we met when we were out. They usually were not the ones you wanted to hang around after the night ended. No guy could get our cell numbers. They were free to give their numbers, once in a blue moon we might actually use them. It was very rare.

At this point neither of us was in a relationship. I guess you could call it our fun time. Which was great, but you have those moments of wishing that you had someone at home waiting for you. I have been there through all Rose's relationships. For ever five guys she dates I would have one. It was even interesting when I ended up on the dates with them. I still don't know how she talked me into it. Most of the time I had no idea until we were out and a guy showed up at their meeting spot. Rose also liked to have her dates pamper me. It was like a test of some sort. If they treated me well they might have a chance. She made sure the alcohol kept coming. Poor guys. It was more like Rose and I were on a date and he bankrolled it. We ended up reminiscing on old outings and told our funny stories. Sometimes I got more action than the guy. But what guy could pass up seeing two girls kiss.

After a little visit I headed home to my apartment. Thoughts of dinner followed by a nice bath were keeping me sane. As I was preparing my raviolis I thought of my customer today and wished I could be eating what he was making. He looked just as yummy.