The four entered the shop, it was a fairly large shop but it was packed. People were pushing and shoving. There were long cues for check outs. They were glad they wore coats because otherwise, they would have been dripping wet.
Suddenly, a rather large group of mostly tall business men started exiting the store through the entrance. One of them pushed Jac into a metal railing by accident. She hit it side-on and after reassuring Jonny that she was fine, they grabbed two trolleys split into their pairs.
Jonny pushed the trolley following Elliot towards the bottled water. They grabbed a small pack of individual bottles and then got four of the larger 5 litre bottles that had handles on them that they could refill the smaller bottles with. They would probably need more but they couldn't carry anymore than that. They then headed towards the busiest section that contained torches, batteries and lamps.
Meanwhile, Jac left Mo to push the trolley and quickly headed towards the toiletries. Unfortunately, Mo was not letting Jac out of her sight so she followed her all the way. Jac stopped and Mo stopped behind her at the female essentials section. Jac turned to see that Mo was behind her and she went slightly red.
"Go on then, get what you need." Mo said quietly to Jac as she got out her phone as a distraction so Jac was more comfortable. Jac picked up a pack of breast pads and panty liners and placed them in the bottom of the trolley before quickly walking away from that section. Mo then realised why she wanted to pair up with herself rather than Jonny.
Mo caught up with her as she stopped at the baby wipes. "Jac, there's no need to be embarrassed, I've been there remember." Mo said softly in next to Jac.
Jac simply ignored the topic completely and said "shall we get some baby wipes incase the water is shut off?"
Mo sensed that Jac was still a bit embarrassed so she left the subject. "Yeah, I'll get some hand sanitised as well."
After picking up a couple of packs of wipes and sanitizer, they headed for the fruit and vegetables, before making their way through the food section filling up the trolley avoiding the frozen section because they probably wouldn't be able to use the oven. Towards the end, they got towards the end, the trolley was nearly full to the top and most of the shelves in the store were empty except the odd packet. Mo reached the hot drinks section and picked up a packet of hot chocolate. Even if they could only use the kettle tonight, a warm drink might help Jac to sleep.
Jonny and Elliot then arrived with their trolley slightly less full than Mo and Jac's one and they began to cue for check out. There was four people in front of them all with full trolleys. Mo pushed her trolley first (in front of Elliot and Jonny's) so that Jonny or Elliot wouldn't see Jac's items. After nearly ten minutes of waiting, there was still two trolleys in front of them and a flash of lightening struck above London. The light came through the windows that were in front of the check out tills. Jonny immediately walked up to Jac who, uncharacteristically, tucked her head straight into his chest and wrapped her arms around him. Jonny was slightly taken aback. And looked at Mo with a worried face. Elliot however was still confused.
"Jac? What's wrong?" He asked, he hadn't yet made the connection between the lightening and her odd behaviour. Jonny, who placed his chin on the top of Jac's head whispered to Elliot over the noise of the store, "She's scared of thunder and lightening." Elliot, who was slightly shocked nodded in response and realised why Jonny had been so tense and stressed since they split into their pairs. Jac stayed in Jonny's arms for another five minutes until they were being served.
"Sorry about the wait." The young girl said softly.
"No worries, I'm surprised your still working." Mo said as she began to unload things from the trolley on to the small conveyor belt. Jac slipped out of Jonny's arms and took her bag off of her back. She began packing the items and Jonny followed though he didn't pack his bag. He was going to put the heavy things like batteries and water in his bag.
"We have to work, the boss has said anyone who stays will get a bonus, anyone who leaves will be fired." She replied.
Mo realised that she was getting to the bottom of the trolley and Elliot was helping her unload. She also realised that Jonny was helping Jac pack so they would both probably see Jac's things. Mo took her bag off of her back and passed it to Jonny so that he could pack it for her. Mo quickly picked up Jac's breast pads and panty liners and put them at he end of the conveyor belt, the bit closest to the young girl. Jac's eyes flashed as she saw them there.
Elliot looked up as he placed the baby wipes on the conveyor belt and saw them before awkwardly looking back down in the trolley. Jac saw Elliot's reaction and went red with embarrassment, the young girl picked up the items and didn't bat an eyelid as she saw them almost everyday, Jonny however picked them up and looked at Jac. Jac snatched them out of his hands and put them into her rucksack without looking at him. She had just filled up her bag so she placed the heavy thing on her back before she began packing the last few of the bits from he trolley into a few plastic bags. She placed those bags on the floor and took Elliot's bag off of him and packed it, as him and Mo began to unload the second trolley.
"Leave the big bottle, me and Elliot can carry those without bags." Jonny said. Jac picked one up and struggled with it, seeing her, Jonny quickly took it off of her and placed it on the floor. It made Jac slightly dizzy so she leant on the metal counter for support.
"You okay?" Jonny asked as he was forced to keep packing quickly.
"Yeah, just... Just give me a minute." Jac replied as she stayed still trying to stare at one point in front of her. Eventually, all the items were packed in rucksacks or plastic bags.
"Right, that comes to £213.45 please." The young girl announced. Elliot already had his credit card out and placed it into the machine. The others didn't have much choice as they had left their wallets in the safe in their room. "We'll pay you back Elliot." Mo said.
"Oh no no no. It's fine, really. The money I'm on I could do this every week!" He joked in a serious tone. No one laughed. Elliot pulled his card out, took the receipt off of the young girl and took his heavy back pack off of Jac. He placed it on his back and grabbed two of the 5 litre bottles of water. Jonny did the same. Mo put her bag on her back and picked up two bags in each hand.
Jac already had her bag on her back and was about to pick up the three remaining plastic bags, Jonny however had other ideas. "Oh no you don't." He said as he put both of the large water bottles in one hand and picked the three bags up in the other. Jac was about to argue back as they made their way towards the exit as Jonny interrupted. "No, if you faint, that's another thing to carry." He said sternly.
They reached the exit that was slightly less busy than the entrance, they could see that the drains were already blocked in the streets as large, deep puddles were forming around them. Jac, who was infront of the other, froze as lightening struck across the sky. She wasn't moving an inch and the others stopped behind her. Jonny placed the two bottles of water on the floor, freeing one hand and pulled Jac's hood up for her, he stood in front of her and whispered into her ear that everything was going to be okay. Jac trusted Jonny so as soon as he picked up his water bottles and began walking into the torrential downpour, Jac followed closely behind.
After a few minutes of walking, they were only 100 meters from the hotel, they could see it. But suddenly, thunder rumbled across the sky for several seconds. Jac panicked because she was out in the open; she had no shelter. She sprinted towards the hotel. She ran past Jonny with the heavy bag on her back.
Jonny was so worried and began running after her as fast as he could with a heavy bag on his back, three bags in one hand and ten litres of water in the other. Mo and Elliot however, sensed that they wouldn't be wanted by Jac at her moment of weakness so they carried on walking at the same pace through the deep puddles on the pavement.
Jac was running surprisingly fast and Jonny caught up with her just as she entered the hotel, the doorman held he door open for them both. Jonny managed to stop Jac at the bottom of the stairs. He dumped the water bottles and bags on the floor and hugged her tightly, she was crying, though she was trying not to show it. "It's okay, your fine. Listen, we're inside. We can go up to the room and we'll probably be there a few days. We'll be inside, the thunder and lightening can't hurt you." Jonny pulled away and looked at her in the eyes, he placed two of his wet fingers on her neck, her pulse was extremely fast, but it was slowing down.
Meanwhile, Mo and Elliot had just arrived, they wiped their feet on the mat and were about to walk towards the stairs when the receptionist stopped them.
"Excuse me, are you in the same room as the other man and woman that just ran through here?"
"Yes, why?" Elliot replied as he and Mo pulled their hoods down after placing the contents of one hand on the floor.
"Well I need to tell you and I was wondering if you would mind passing on the message, that if the rain continues to come at the rate it is, we will unfortunately have to turn the electricity, gas and water off by 11pm. It is advisable that you fill any containers up with water, charge any phones you might need and keep the radiators on until then because it is elected to get rather cold tonight. By the way there are spare blankets on top of your wardrobes and it will help keep the heat in if you pull curtains and shut the bedroom door. What room are you in?"
"Um, 174"
"Right thank you, it's just so that we know who's been told. If you need anything else, ring room service or come down to reception."
"Right okay thank you."
Thank you for reading, I know this is so unrealistic but I love writing this! Please review, I'd love to know what you guys think :)