Chapter 3: A Trip to the Candy Section

Pushing around his shopping cart, Arthur entered into the supermarket with Francis and Antonio.

"We'll be in the wine section," said the mischievous Spaniard and Frenchman. Arthur wasn't sure why they decided to join him but he knew they had ulterior motives. He knew whenever they were together they were plotting and whenever they were plotting it meant something bad was going to happen. Even if they said they weren't going to do anything, they were. He shook his head and went to the produce section, if they wanted to make a fool out of themselves in public, it didn't have anything to do with him. He browsed the fruits and vegetables and made sure not to overlook the items on sale. He wanted to make a well-balanced meal consisting of many vegetables and fish. He headed towards the brussel sprouts and grabbed a small plastic bag. He piled a variety of vegetables in his cart, he was sure that Antonio and Francis would be staying for dinner so he got a small bag of tomatoes and a baguette. They could say they hated his cooking or that it was the "worst zing I 'ave ever tasted" but they still stayed for meals.

He continued down towards the fruits section grabbing some strawberries, bananas, apples, and some raspberries that were in season. He slowly moved towards the butcher and requested two Chilean sea bass gutted and filleted. He loved fish, ever since he was a child he remembered his mother cooking them on the grill and dousing them with many herbs and oils and he hoped he is able to cook like her. While he was waiting for the fish to be packaged for him a small child ran into his midsection. He looked down only to see a small girl - maybe three or four with her brown hair done up in pigtails. Her eyes began to water and she bolted past him to a man browsing through the meats.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed locking her arms around his legs. He couldn't help but stare at the supposed father of the little girl. He couldn't believe it, he'd thought he never see him again. It was the face of a man he once loved and believed had loved him back. Arthur hurriedly grabbed the fish from the butcher and headed towards a deserted aisle filled with canned goods. He needed to escape any contact with his ex-lover by all means.

"Arthur?" asked a voice behind. He knew that voice. His stomach flipped and formed knots and his heart felt light in his chest. Arthur turned around slowly hoping that it was a worker or maybe even Francis wanting his attention. However, to his dismay it was the man he was desperate to forget. He was an older man in his early 40s and with soft wrinkles to show it. He couldn't seem to possess a sincere smile nor could he speak without adding a hint of criticism. His appearance was well composed, his dark hair swept out of his face and his suit pressed and clean. He had aged well.

"Tom," Arthur tried to hide his informal appearance behind his cart. His own hair must have been ratty and unbrushed from a night of drinking, his clothes were mismatched now that he actually looked at them, and he didn't have the time to iron his sweater. 'Stupid Spanish bastard. Why did I let him take me to an Irish pub? WHY DO I EVEN ASSOCIATE WITH HIM?'

"You're looking. . . . .well," his words were biting. Scrutinizing his appearance since they last met. This drove Arthur crazy, he couldn't believe after all this time Tom was still the same narcissistic person he used to be. He could only see one exit strategy and that was to end the conversation as quick as he could.

"It's nice seeing you. I really wish we could talk but I have some important matters to attend to at home so it you don't mind..."

"Really? What important matters do you have to attend to?" Tom interrupted knowing full well of Arthur's lies. Arthur felt sick, he wished he never decided to come to the store that day.

"M-my..."

"Arthur!" a bright voice shouted behind him. Arthur turned around and saw none other than the friendly mechanic from the States.

"Alfred." He replied with a sigh of relief.

"This guy botherin' ya?"
"Oh, and who are you? You realize you're interrupting our conversation," Tom said, crossing his arms and glaring at Alfred.

"Aren't you an American? What are you doing here?" Tom's daughter asked meliciously.

Alfred slung an arm around Arthur's shoulders and brought him close, "Arthur and me were just about to -"

"You mean Arthur and I. I guess they didn't teach you any grammar back in that country of yours. You sure know how to pick them Arthur." Tom sneered.

"I don't give a damn about your grammar, we're in a supermarket! Come on Arthur, let's go to the candy section," Alfred demanded angrily. He steered Arthur's cart down the aisle, and smashed his shoulder into Tom's nearly knocking him into his cart.

Alfred turned his head towards Tom and growled, "I hope that kid of yours doesn't turn out to be half the prick you are." Alfred intertwined his fingers with Arthur's and pulled him down the aisles until they reached the candy section.

"I can't believe you did that." Arthur breathed.

Alfred shrugged, looking through the candy and adding bags of it to sate his rage. He couldn't get the man's face out of his view - his criticizing, snide, sneering mug. And Arthur's. He looked so upset as if he would have bolted from the scene if he could. "So who was that guy?" he asked.

"Just a...an ex-boyfriend."

"Oh. Your ex? You..." Alfred hesitated. "You like men?"

"Um well yes. I-I hope that doesn't change your opinion of me."

"What? Of course not. Why would that change my opinion of you? My boss is dating a man. Remember that Italian man we saw the other day? That's him."

"Oh I see. Now that you mention it..."

"That reminds me, I was just. . . .I was wondering if you wanted to- "

"Caterpillar! Zere you are! We 'ave been looking for you," Francis interjected eyeing Alfred. "Nice catch" he whispered into Arthur's ear. "Who might you be?"

"I'm Alfred, I'm fixing up Arthur's car."

"Ah! An Americaine! 'Ow interesting." he added winking at Arthur. "Je m'appelle Francis and zis mon ami is Antonio. We are good friends of Arthur's."

"I guess you're giving Arthur a ride home then."

"Francis and I have to go straight to work so we won't be able to take Arthur back. Do you think you could take him home?" the Spaniard suggested. Before Alfred could answer Antonio and Francis headed out the store wearing smiles of satifaction.

"I could take you back if you need to, and before you say anything it's no problem at all," Alfred said.

"No, no, they were just bluffing. I doubt they really left me here," Arthur sighed, "and you aren't a taxi service, Alfred. I'll just take a bus or the underground."

"You'd look ridiculous with all those groceries, dude, come on. I'm heading in your direction anyway, it's not a bother," he persuaded. Arthur ended up grudgingly agreeing, though insisted that he would pay for Alfred's candy in turn. Alfred loaded the groceries in the back of the truck with ease then started up the car. As they were driving out of the parking lot it dawned on Arthur why Alfred would be in the market.

"Where are your groceries?"

Alfred turned to Arthur, his mouth lost for words, "...That's a good question...they're...it doesn't matter, I'll go back later."

They burst into a fit of laughter, Arthur struggled to regain his composure, "How do you just forget your groceries at a market?"

"I don't even know!" Alfred laughed, but it started to die away when he realized why he left them, "I got distracted by that guy! What was his name anyway?"

"Tom, he's not the best person to run into," Arthur mumbled. He wanted to end this conversation as soon as possible.

"He was really old...I mean that's cool and all, do you like older guys?" he pried. He could help but feel a little put off, Tom was everything he wasn't - successful, put together and older.

"He was my professor during my years at University. I honestly can't remember why I fell for him. He was such an arse," Arthur confessed.

"Is he rich? I mean he was wearing some nice stuff. He still a professor?"

"No. He used to be my biology professor but he became a doctor and married his colleague at the hospital and they had a family. We weren't really together... it was just a fling"

"Well he was stupid anyway! I'm glad you're not with him anymore!" the liveliness died down between the two and was replaced with a stale, awkward silence.

"A-about that mirror of yours"

"Yeah what about it?"

"How'd ya get it taken off?"

"While I waiting in traffic the other day and it just began to clear up this impatient bloke on a motorcycle ripped it clean off." Arthur ranted. Alfred furrowed his brow,

'Was he that moron in the car that was fiddling with his radio? No... Arthur's a better driver than that, right?'Alfred questioned. "Sounds awful" Alfred agreed.

"It was terrible, I was almost late for work. Luckily my friends were there to help me get there on time"

"They seem...nice. Not really my type of people, but they're nice."

"What are your friends like?"

"There's Ludwig...but he's my boss," Alfred's voice quieted, "I don't really have many friends of my own, most people think I'm stupid or something and I don't want to spend my time with those types of people."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know..." Arthur paused, "I could be your friend...that is if you want to "

"Okay, yeah!" Alfred said with his heart racing. He restrained himself from letting go of the steering wheel and throwing his arms around the little British man. Once they arrived in front of his flat, they unloaded the groceries, Alfred carrying as many as he could and Arthur only carrying a minimum of two bags due to Alfred's insistence. Arthur opened the door to his flat and they stepped inside placing all his groceries on his kitchen counter.
"Nice place you got here" Alfred complimented. He was ready to head back down to the lobby when his stomach emitted a particularly large growl.
"Was that you?"
"Yeah I guess I'm a bit hungry, I skipped out on lunch" Alfred said giving his head a scratch.
"Why don't you stay for dinner? I'm a pretty decent chef if I don't say so myself."
"Okay! Do you need any help?"
"No just make yourself comfortable on my couch" Alfred walked towards Arthurs living room and sprawled out on his comfy couch. After an hour of pots and pans clattering in the kitchen and the rancid smell of burnt garbage dinner was finally ready. Alfred walked towards the dining table and took a seat across from Arthur. He stared at the food that seemed to have been roasted until it looked like a pile of death. Alfred was on the verge of tears. Though it was presented nicely with silverware and fine china, the smell and appearance could make a starving man think twice upon eating it.

"Dig in!" Arthur said, cutting out a healthy size for himself. Alfred took the smallest portions of food that he could eat without dying. He took a bite of what seemed to be a brussel sprout but ended up in a coughing fit. Arthur sat across from him, his eyes large and set on Alfred's reaction to his cooking.

"Do you like it? Everyone says it's terrible, but what do you think?" his face was downcast when he mentioned they disliked his food.

"It's delicious!" Alfred said stuffing a forkful of the disgusting food into his mouth. He would soon regret it later.

A smile spread across Arthur's face, "I'm glad you like it" Alfred felt his heart melt, he would do anything to keep that smile on his face. Even if it meant eating certain death. Which is exactly what he did for the rest of the courses, even through dessert. Alfred was completely stuffed by the end, but did have room for a few pieces of candy to soothe his upset stomach. When the meals were finished he helped Arthur with the dishes and they walked down to his truck.

"Thanks for having me over," Alfred said, "we should do this again sometime."

"That would be lovely."

A tint of red spread across Alfred's face as he inched closer to Arthur and pulled him into a loose embrace. After seconds of realization Alfred quickly let go of Arthur and fixed his glasses. With a quick word of goodbye Alfred hopped into his truck and drove down the road. Arthur shook his head and began walking in the direction of his flat. The silence was broken by the screeching of tires, he gave a glance in the noise's general direction when he saw the truck out of the corner of his eye. From what he could decipher in the dark, Alfred's face was bright red and had a nervous smile.

"WILL YOU GO ON A DATE WITH ME?" He yelled from the car.

Arthur was shocked and acted on impulse. "...YES!"