"And when it rains,
Will you always find an escape?
Just running away,
From all of the ones who love you,
From everything."
-When It Rains, Paramore
It would take at least a half an hour for the order to be cooked, wrapped and ready to bring home, so I decided to go into Thriftway, which was the grocery store in the same strip as the Chinese restaurant, so that I could pick up a few things that I knew we needed in the house.
Grabbing a strewn cart from the parking lot, I strolled it down to the bakery to pick up some bagels for the next morning. After I'd picked them out, careful to get at least one of each topping, knowing that Alice's preference changed each day, I wandered through the store dropping anything in the cart that we always needed or what I could remember was on the list tacked to the fridge with our wedding picture.
Humming to myself, I reached for Alice's favorite ice cream, not realizing that I had bumped into someone.
"Oh, crap." I muttered catching sight of a woman who looked to be about my age, struggling to get herself up from the floor
I placed the ice cream in the cart, and offered her a hand.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. I was caught up in my humming and I didn't even-
"No, no it's fine. I'm much at fault as you are. I was going over scenarios and whatnot in my head. I should have watched where I was going." She explained, bending down to retrieve the 12 pack of water bottles she had been carrying
She gave me a smile that sent an almost familiar twinkle through her eyes.
I would have smiled back, but it was one of those "do you feel that strange connection that I feel?" smiles, and I was pretty sure that no, I did not reciprocate those feelings that she had at this moment
She flipped her long black hair over her shoulder, and batted her eyelashes.
Memories of a young girl, concentrating on her spelling test, flipping her hair over her shoulder to prevent me from seeing her answers, and then giving me a knowing smile drifted through my mind.
The woman's long waves, turned to shorter curls, her makeup faded away, and her tank top and jeans ensemble faded into leggings and a dress.
"Maria?" I breathed
"Oh my god! Jasper!" she giggled, throwing her arms around me, breathing me in
"I haven't seen you in ages." I laughed, "What the hell are you doing here in Washington?"
"I needed a change." She sighed, "I just got out of a horrid relationship that's been on and off since high school."
"Let me guess, James Hunter?"
"You got it. How'd you know, Jay?"
"You'd always had a crush on him, Maria."
"Yeah, I suppose so. Well, long story short, he was cheating on me with Victoria Laurent, and I found out too late, and he apologized profusely, and thought that I would come crawling back to him."
"So you just needed to get out of Texas?"
"I'm just done with the drama. So I got myself a dart board, pinned a map of the United States on it and shut my eyes. Landed in Washington."
"You sure you just didn't want to meet up with your old best friend?"
"Maybe it was fate, Jay."
"It is remarkable." I agreed, not fully believing her story, though I had no reason to doubt it either
"So, how are you? And how is Rosalie? Still gorgeous as ever, I'd bet."
"I'm good. Great, actually. Just got over recovery from a recent accident, but I've never felt better."
"You acting younger than you actually are?" she giggled
"Motorcycle accident. But anyway, Rose is great. She actually got engaged the other day."
"And Jasper approves? My, my. He must be quite the catch."
"One of my best friends, actually, and I'm not going to act like a saint and say I approved right away, he did have to prove himself to me, but I couldn't be happier for the two of them."
"And what did you end up doing? No good at math, I remember. Rosalie still modeling?"
"We both actually turned to law. She stopped modeling back in high school. She's a family court lawyer, and I'm a criminal defense attorney."
I glanced at my watch, noting that it had almost been forty five minutes since I'd left the restaurant
"Oh, I'm making you late, aren't I?" she frowned, "Could I get your number maybe? And I know we just re-met each other, but would you perhaps be interested in a date? Nothing too fancy. Stereotypical dinner and a movie? Walk in the park?"
"I'm not so sure my wife would approve of that." I chuckled
"Oh god. I'm sorry, again. Of course you're married." She blushed, "How could I not realize?"
I fiddled through my pocket to find my wallet.
"That's her." I smiled, showing her a small picture of Alice looking outside the window at falling snow
"She's gorgeous."
"How long have you two been together?"
"Only married a few years, but we've been together since middle school."
"And you aren't tired of each other, yet?" she laughed
"No. I never plan to be either." I laughed along
"I'd still love to keep in touch Mar. Here's my number." I told her, scribbling my cell number across her hand
"It was great seeing you, Jay. I'd love to meet Alice sometime."
"Good seeing you too, Maria." I smiled, giving her another hug before heading to the cash register
I was glad that she was in Washington. I thought that she's get along with Alice pretty well, and that a good friendship could blossom from it. Maybe Alice knew someone that we could hook her up with.
"What the hell was that, Jasper?" a voice shouted
"Edward?" I called, whipping around to see him coming towards me with a bag of coffee beans
"What the hell was what?" I asked
"Care to explain to me why a married man, expecting a song, is out picking up dates at the grocery store? Does Alice even know that you're here?"
"Edward it's not what you think it-
"Don't go make excuses." He shouted, bringing back his fist
"Edward, no!" a soprano voice shrieked, running in front of him in a blur, just in time to take the blow for me
"Bella." He gasped, as her head it the floor, and the coffee beans scattered to the ground beside her
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