Evening Shopping
The quick trip to the grocery store was taking longer than planned. Getting the whipped cream was easy, but there were just so many options for chocolate syrup. Tina stood back to survey the shelves in front of her. The generic brand was cheaper, but the Hershey's chocolate syrup was on sale if she bought two bottles. But would two bottles be too much? She didn't really need two bottles. But then there were also sugar free ones, and organic, and the kind that turn into a hard shell. Probably didn't want that last one, but then again, maybe it would be fun . . . She picked up a couple bottles and studied the labels.
Tina was so absorbed in weighing her options, she didn't hear Mr. Frond approaching until he called out to her, making her jump.
"Tina, hi! It's been so long! How have you been?"
"Uhhhh . . ."
It was true. It had been a few years. She hadn't really seen Mr. Frond after she left Wagstaff for high school. Of all the times she could have run into him, this was not the ideal one. Luckily, he didn't seem to really notice her unease.
"Evening shopping trip just like me, I see. What are you making? Sundaes? I think I have a coupon for ice cream, if you want it. Here, let me get it." He pulled a coupon organizer wallet out of his shopping basket and started riffling through it. Just then, Jimmy Junior came around the corner from the other end of the aisle and held up a box of condoms.
"Hey, I got the ribbed ones you like. Do you think the twenty-four pack is enough for now or should I-" He cut off as soon as he noticed their former guidance councilor was standing there. "Oh, hey, Mr. Frond." He gave a strangled laugh and held the box behind his back.
The three of them just stood there for a few seconds. The whipped cream and the chocolate syrup. The box behind his back. The big night they had planned clearly laid out. Mr. Frond placed his wallet back in his basket.
"I guess you won't be needing that coupon after all."