Un-betad
Characters aren't mine, that is all.
Word Prompt: Mug
"I can't believe you didn't tell him off," Alice comments as she hands me a few coupons to sort.
"What was I suppose to say? He was just doing his job, as idiotic as it may seem," I excuse.
"Yeah, but he shouldn't have been following you. Isn't the point of security to catch the bad guys? You're the most honest person I know," Alice huffs as she takes a sip from her coffee mug.
This is how we spent our Monday evenings every week. She brings over the coupons she's collected, and we organize them into piles of stuff we can use or donate. We keep a bag filled with expired ones and every month sent them to the soldiers overseas, but for those still current, we find people that can use them.
"Well, you know Shelly had someone try and swipe her binder a few weeks ago and theft has been on the rise lately, so maybe mine will be safer," I reply off-handedly almost regretting telling Alice the story of my Sunday.
After I got back from Wal*Mart, I clipped my coupons, I sorted them into my binder, and I went on about my day as usual. It was just the imagine of a bronzed-hair man that kept invading my thoughts that was different.
"If you say so, Bella," Alice said as we change subjects to her and her boyfriend, Jasper.
Alice and I met through him actually. Someone at work had asked me about a coupon, and he overheard me talking about it. He pulled me aside and asked if I could help his girlfriend, because she had just lost her job, and they were barely making it through. I, of course, immediately jumped on the chance, and we instantly became friends.
After a long evening of organizing and our shopping trips planned for the next week, I said goodbye to Alice at the door.
"Let me know if you want me to go with you on Sunday. I know I generally go up to Winco, but I can easily go to Wal*Mart instead," she offers, but I shake my head.
"I'm sure my next trip will be fine, I'll see you on Thursday for the ten for ten deals, though," I answer with a smile. Nothing got Alice more excited than Vans during their dollar days.
When stores did their ten dollar for ten item deals, it was like a couponers best dream. Of course, add in coupons that double, and it meant a lot of free or super cheap products. This week, we'd be stocking up on Sunny D, Malt-O-Meal Cereal, protein bars, Ronzoni Pasta, and Purex, just to name a few.
Every time a store did a big sale like this, Alice and I sat down with envelopes and pre-pulled out coupons for the trip. On the outside of the envelope we would write out what we had, how many we needed, and what we expected to pay. I was estimating my trip to cost roughly twenty dollars because I also needed to buy milk, bread, and cheese. Finding milk coupons was always the hardest, but this week I had coupons for my bread and cheese. It didn't make them really cheap, but anything helps when it came to the necessities.
I finished cleaning up our coffee mugs from the night, before stashing my binder away in my bookcase. I hop online to make sure I didn't miss anything, before turning on the newest episode of Big Brother.
I silently envy the relationship Alice and Jasper have, and I wonder when I would find someone who didn't think I was a nutcase.
I was dating Jake before I lost my job, but once I couldn't go out at his beckon call we split up. Looking back, it was for the best, but between finding a new job, settling in, and securing my future, I didn't focus much time to think about dating.
Now with the show out, I cringed when new people stopped me to ask about coupons. I didn't mind helping anyone who genuinely wanted information, but there were a few people at work that basically wanted me to do all the work for them. They didn't understand how long it took, and they weren't willing to work for it, so I gave up trying.
I look at the clock and groan. It is only nine, and my eyes were already shutting. I wasn't even thirty, but I felt ancient. So, I shut the television off and made my way to bed. Imagines of green and bronze playing in my dreams all night.
