Disclaimer: I still own nothing. :)
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Fifteen minutes into her drive home from the doctor's office, Reba passed by a local Walgreen's on the corner. Not giving herself any time to think, she made a quick U-turn and pulled into the store's parking lot. Looking into the rear-view mirror, she got an all-too-real glimpse of herself. She looked, to say the least, a mess. Her puffy eyes were swollen from crying and her tear-stained face had been thoroughly chapped by the wind. Her lips, too, had managed to be affected by all this.After digging around her in purse, she managed to find the un-opened Piña Colada flavored lip-balm Cheyenne had given her two Christmases ago. She quickly ran the tube over her lips, and took out a box of tissues from the glove compartment. After drying her face as effectively as possible and making sure she didn't look like a completely crazy person, Reba finally grabbed her purse and stepped out of the car.
Walking through the automatic doors, she picked up one of the baskets conveniently placed next to the tower of sales ads. Buying a pregnancy test was a necessity, but she'd be damned if that would be the only thing she'd be seen buying in there. Quickly, she scanned the tops of the aisles for the "Family Planning" section, and, immediately upon finding it, turned in the opposite direction. Placing items in her basket at random, Reba made her way slowly but surely to the right row. Moving at a fast pace down the aisle with all the candy, she dropped a big bag of Dove chocolates next to the ring of hair scrunchies, nail polish that she would never in a million years wear, pocket notebook, and ornamental mini lawn-dwarf. If the test turned out positive, she could already foresee needing to cling to that bag of chocolate like a life-vest. The lawn-dwarf she could always pawn off on Van.
Actually, coming to the aisle she'd been most dreading wasn't as bad as she'd previously thought. Feeling braver than she had all morning, Reba moved freely to the spot with all the kits. Wanting to find the most accurate one available, she spent over ten minutes looking over each brand. That's where she went wrong. She was turning over the very last one to read the label on the back when she heard it. That voice.
"Oh my goodness," the voice gushed. "I've been looking for one of these forever!"
Reba froze, momentarily unable to breathe. Stuffing the pregnancy kit deep into the bottom of the basket, she made for the opposite side of the aisle.
"You can't live in Texas without having one, and the other three I've had --"
The last part of her chatter was lost in the "Oh!" of surprise as the two came face to face. Reba, with her basket of random items, and Barbra Jean, with her "Everything's Bigger In Texas" t-shirt held in mid-air.
"Reba!", the woman cooed. "I was just telling this store-clerk how the last three times I've had one of these, I've accidentally spilled hot wing sauce all over them. Isn't that a hoot?"
Reba frowned as she looked around for the clerk. "I don't...see anybody..."
Both women turned around just in time to see the stock boy sprinting down the opposite aisle, intent on hiding in the back room until the crazy woman left. Wishing instantly she could be that lucky, Reba started thinking up excuses that would get her away from Barbra Jean. Far, far away.
"So what are you in here for?" the blonde asked.
"Uhh..." Reba mumbled, reaching inside her pile of items. "Lawn dwarf?" she asked, shrugging.
This was going to be one hell of a day..., she thought miserably.
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A/N: I know this didn't have much to it, but I had to use this as a segue-way to the real stuff. Hopefully you guys didn't find this too boring. ;) Please review to let me know how I'm doing! I promise the next chapter will have more!