Clean up on aisle 3.
"Fuck," Ritsu swore as the first—about twenty water droplets fell from the sky and decided to land on her. When leaving campus, she had noticed that sky looked a little darker than normal for the sun to have already set this early in the afternoon (which should've been her first clue that the sun hadn't set early, but the clouds were turning into a dark grey color…) And she had heard her classmate talking about the incoming weather to someone on the phone. Well, Ritsu was never the smartest of the bunch. "Goddamnit! This is my favorite shirt."
The brisk walk that had only taken her a block away from campus turned into a jog as her "The Who! Live!" blue concert shirt was becoming drenched, it's light blue color quickly fading into dark blue, almost navy. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." Ritsu swore, scolding herself for not bringing a jacket when the wind decided to pick up speed along Ritsu. Her jog erupted into a full sprint for the supermarket she knew was a few blocks in front of her—the only one that seemed to be open, she noted from the light coming out of the thick glass windows displaying what was inside.
Yah, Ritsu should really make it a point to watch the news more often. Or else she would've known about the impending summer storm.
"The storm's right behind you!" A male classmate of her's shouted from a speeding vehicle, "Get inside, you dumbass!" Ritsu flicked him off (slightly peeved that he didn't offer her a ride, that ass,) right before the automatic doors of Danny Choo's came into sight—and the manager about to lock them.
"Wait! Hold the doors!" Ritsu yelled just as a family of three were scurried inside, Bruno, the manager, ushering them in faster. 'For the love of all things holy, I'm so glad I was on the track team.' Ritsu thought, sprinting the last few meters. She rushed past Bruno, giving him pre-shower shower, before he turned off the automatic feature.
One small thing she had forgotten about Danny Choo's Supermarket until she sprinted inside at top speed (her track coach would've been so proud of her): It was always fucking cold. And she was wet. The perfect combination to get sick right before summer finals.
Ritsu bent over and rested her palms on her bent knees, coming down from an adrenalin high as she tried to catch her breath. She could barely make out the manager mumbling about "news" and "stupid kids." Regardless, almost bald Bruno was a good guy and a good manager.
"Hey Bruno," Ritsu panted, chest heaving as the manager made sure the automatic doors were locked tightly.
Bruno made a face, "My name is Bernice—"
"How long are we gonna be here?" Ritsu ask, completely disregarding Bruno's correction. The manager looked at his watch, doing mental calculations before addressing everyone in the supermarket that was using it as a shelter.
"The storm will pass in about 1 to 2 hours. Until then, everyone here is welcome to mingle in the sporting section." Bernice shouted, directing them to the east part of the supermarket. As families followed the manager, Ritsu stayed where she was and rolled her eyes. The sports section was not the perfect place to "house" these people until the storm passes: four foldable chair around a display BBQ pit on fake grass (like the ones in stadiums) surrounded by stacks of Cokes and Bud Light. Wonderful managing Bruno.
Ritsu stood up, shivering as the AC turned on. "Do they sell jackets," she mumbled, looking around for a clothing section (in the supermarket, yes.)
"Hey." Ritsu turned away from peeking down an aisle full of chips in search of the voice that called her.
Her neighbor, Mio Akiyama flagged her down as she worked cash register number 7. Ritsu smiled, thankful for a familiar face and jogged over. Mio returned the correct change to an older man before he grabbed his bags and left for the sports section.
"Hi," Ritsu said, giving Mio a crooked smile. Mio smiled.
"I drove to work today. Do you need a ride when the storm passes?" Ritsu's eyes light up.
"Oh god, yes please!" Mio giggled as Ritsu clasped her hands together in prayer/thanks. She was about to comment about the state of Ritsu's clothes when Bruno came back from the sport section.
"Akiyama, you're still on the clock! And Tainaka, if you aren't going to buy anything, get outta the checkout lane." Bruno shouted, stomping away to the manager's office over by the frozen section. Ritsu covered her mouth to hide a snort when the AC messed up Bruno's comb over hair style. Mio giggled to herself.
"Alright, so…" Ritsu trailed off, gesturing over her shoulders as she took a couple of steps backwards.
Mio smiled, "I get off at 7pm. Hopefully the storm will have passed by then... "
"Yah, okay... " Ritsu nodded, glancing at the wall clock: 5:37pm. She gave Mio a crooked smile as she backed away, maintain eye contact with the cashier, "See you at 7 then." She turned 180 on her heels, almost knocking over an entire display of coke cans forming an even larger coke can. Ritsu caught a few from falling out of the pile, silently pleading for them not to fall over and cause chaos. They obeyed and Ritsu sighed in relief, a huge mess avoided.
Ritsu stood up straight and glanced at Mio. The cashier shook her head in disbelief. Ritsu smiled to herself before disappearing into a random aisle. She had about an hour to kill.
Hello again, so much for every Wednesday updates, huh? (Maybe that can happen in the future, but things tend to happen… like homework, college applications, unnecessary physics projects….)
Again, none of these chapters are related to each other. They are all just one-shots. Please review and thanks for reading!