Daisy in a Meadow

18 - Groceries

Weeks flew by, and winter was steadily approaching. On a cold, fateful Sunday morning, I found myself at the local grocery store shopping for necessities—in other words, I was on my period and had run out of tampons.

Gently humming under my breath, I tossed a pack of tampons in my shopping basket before slowly heading over to the baked goods aisle. Naturally, being on shark week only meant that I was in desperate need of something sweet.

My eyes narrowed at a pack of brownies standing upright on the shelf. There was only one more left. I hurried over to it, though just as my hand grazed the pack, it was yanked away from me. With a frown, I realized that someone from the other side of the aisle must've gotten to it first.

Sagging my shoulders in defeat, I slowly browsed through the aisle for something else that could satisfy my cravings. I failed to realize that the person who'd grabbed the brownies was now watching me from the other side of the aisle.

I eventually reached the end of the aisle, and when I turned left, I jumped in shock as I collided right into—

"Elias," I softly gasped, stumbling backwards.

"Daisy," Elias curtly acknowledged. He hadn't even moved an inch, meanwhile I nearly fell from bumping into his muscular body. Unimpressed, he reached out a hand to steady my much shorter figure.

With a sheepish grin, I brushed my curly hair out of my face before asking, "what are you doing here?"

"Well, this is a grocery store, and I kinda need food to survive," he quipped. "If anything, what are you doing here? Let me guess—following me again?"

"No, I only do that on Fridays."

With that, I glanced down at his shopping basket.

"It was you," I gasped, pointing down at the pack of brownies in his basket.

Whether or not Elias knew what I was talking about, he didn't seem to care all that much, for he simply strolled past me and resumed shopping. Nonetheless, I persistently followed after him into the next aisle.

"I had those brownies first," I continued. "You stole them from me."

He rolled his eyes. "Well, what would you like me to do about that?"

"Give them back?"

"That's a hard no, D," he snorted.

My heart skipped a beat. The only nickname I'd ever received was Crazy Daisy. It felt oddly nice to be referred to as something else.

My brown eyes wandered over to the food in his shopping basket—twinkies, pop tarts, cupcakes, and oreos were only a few of the things I noticed.

"How can you eat all that yet remain so fit?" I questioned in surprise. "Of course, I love me some junk food as well, but aren't you a professional boxer and all?"

"Not professional," he corrected, grabbing a box of chocolate chip cookies and tossing them into his basket. "And these snacks aren't for me."

I furrowed my thick brows in confusion. "Then, who are they for?"

"The kids."

I was gobsmacked. "Y-You have kids?"

Elias' head tilted back as he released a heartfelt laugh. A real chest rumbling, eye crinkling, stomach clutching laugh. I realized that I'd never heard him laugh before—not like this, at least. The sound warmed my insides and caused me to softly smile. However, the smile fell from my lips at his next words.

"You have got to be the most stupid smart person ever," he chortled, running a hand through his tousled hair as he caught his breath.

"Thank you?"