“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but this register is for twenty items or less. You will have to go to another line.”
“I’ve been waiting in line for thirty minutes, you bitch. I’m not going to another line, so you can just start ringing up my groceries.”
She starts throwing her items on the conveyer belt, cursing me the whole time she is doing it. Before I even got a chance to call Cindy over, the customer behind her spoke up.
“Ma’am, there is no excuse for you being so rude to this young lady. She is only doing her job. She even announced over the PA a few times while we were waiting in-line that this register is for twenty items or less. If you hadn’t had your head up your ass and been on your phone cursing like a madwoman, you might have heard the announcements.”
On the verge of tears from a horrid day, I hear a voice that curls my toes with its smoothness. Glancing at the gentleman that’s next in line, my jaw drops open. Even with the mask on, his handsome features shine through. He has the bluest eyes that I have ever seen with dark wavy hair that I want to run my fingers through. So caught up in my thoughts, I almost missed hearing what he told Miss Rude Ass.
“Well, I never! How dare you speak to me that way.”
“I’m sure you haven’t. If you had gotten laid, you’d been in a better mood and not such a cranky bitch.”
All I can do is stand there, staring at both of them arguing. Thank God for masks because I know my mouth is hanging open with drool running down my chin. Just then, I hear Cindy’s voice asking what is going on. Again, the handsome stranger speaks before either my customer or myself can say a word. After he told Cindy everything that had transpired and that I was not at fault, but the woman in front of him was Cindy re-explained to the woman that I was right in telling her that she would have to go to one of the other registers.
“Well, fuck all of you. I’ll go somewhere else to do my shopping from now on. Your store sucks anyway.”
The lady shoved her cart as hard as she could, then stomped out of the store, cursing and yelling at the top of her lungs. Cindy took the cart to return the items that were in it so that someone else could buy them.
Looking at my name tag, the handsome stranger decided to talk to me.
“Nicole, I’m sorry. I hope that I didn’t get you into any trouble. It’s just that woman was so wrong in the way she treated you. No one deserves to be abused like that, especially when you are risking your own life and health by coming here every day to help the people that come to the store. By the way, my name is Tom.”
“Thank you, Tom. Don’t worry. You didn’t get me into any trouble. We have had a lot of customers that acted just like her. I feel bad, but I have to follow the rules, you know.”
“I get it believe me. I am a firefighter. If we don’t follow the rules and procedures, we could end up getting someone or ourselves killed. This pandemic has made people extra crazy. I’m sorry that you have to deal with that kind of crap on a daily basis.”
As he spoke, I rang up his groceries. His voice is so deep and masculine that every inch of me vibrates with desire listening to him. I just wish I could see under that mask of his.
“Your job has to be fascinating compared to mine. I do the same old thing day in and day out. I really do appreciate you taking up for me. It means more than you could possibly imagine. I’ve worked seven weeks straight without a day off. A few of my co-workers, who are also friends, got the virus. My best friend, Lisa, died from it. The worst part of that is she fought cancer and beat it. Four years later and we lose her to COVID. It’s been heartbreaking, to say the least.”
“Nicole, I understand. We’ve lost a few of my brothers at the fire department too. Young, strong men who’ve never been sick a day in their life here one day and poof they were gone the next. It’s still hard to wrap my head around it.”
“Tom, I’m so sorry for your losses. It’s never easy to lose the ones we care about.”
“Thank you, Nicole. No, it isn’t easy, but we have to keep moving forward and honor their memory. Sorry, but a quick change of subject. Would you consider having lunch or dinner with me one day?”
“Um, wow, I really didn’t expect that. We would have to wait until after the pandemic because of self-quarantining. If you’re still interested then I would love to have dinner with you.”
“I have a crazy idea, but it would keep us both safe, and we can have dinner together tonight if you want to. One of the guys at the station has been doing this with his girlfriend, so he doesn’t take a chance of infecting her since we are around so many people. They choose a restaurant that does takeout, and he orders their food. After picking it up, they meet at the park near where she lives. He has his car parked facing one direction when she gets there, she parks right beside him, but in the opposite direction. This way, they can spend time together and are still keeping the required social distance. What do you think?”
“You know it sounds kind of crazy, but I’m willing to try it if you are. It will be good to get out of the house for a little bit, and to have someone to talk to instead of being alone so much.”
“Great, will six o’clock be good for you?”
“I get off at five. What do you say we meet at about five-thirty?”
“That works for me too. Do you have a preference for where we get our dinner from? I eat just about everything, so it’s the lady’s choice tonight.”
We spent the next couple of minutes working out the details of food and where we would meet. Tom seems like a great guy. For the first time in a long time, I can’t wait to get off of work so I can see him. He slips me a piece of paper before he leaves with his phone number on it. This way, I can call him if something happens that will make me late.
Chapter 5
The last two hours of work took forever to end. At five twenty-five, I finished with my last customer, cleaned up and sanitized my register, then punched out so I could meet Tom. I waved bye to David on my way out of the store, glad to have work behind me. It only took a few minutes for me to get to the park we had decided to meet at.
Driving through the park, I notice some picnic tables. They are big enough that if we sat on opposite sides and ends, we would be far enough apart to keep our social distance. It would be a lot easier to eat than sitting in our cars too. A few seconds later, I spotted Tom leaning against his car. When he saw me approaching, he started to get into his car. I honked and waved for him to wait a second before getting into the car.
I pull up beside his car, “Hi Tom, what do you think about eating at the picnic table instead of in our cars? It would be a lot easier to eat.”
“That sounds great. Go ahead and pull over there. I’ll be there in just a second.”
Once both of our cars were parked, he grabbed our food, and then we walked to the table together. I waited while he placed our food on the table. He had the restaurant bag our food separately so that he didn’t have to touch mine. After placing my bag on one side, he went to the other. It’s such a gorgeous day out. Just then, my stomach decided it wanted to growl when I got a whiff of the food. Totally embarrassed, I couldn’t help blushing.
“I’m so glad that I’m not the only one who is hungry. My stomach was complaining, sitting in the car, smelling the food. That’s why I was standing outside of it when you pulled up.”