Greyson pushed the shopping cart, full of snacks, and followed Ashley and Ellie.
Greyson watched as they loaded more and more food into the carts. When they were overflowing, they
went to the cash register.
"Girls, can we finish so much food?" Greyson said, looking at the mound of groceries.
Ashley knew Greyson was worried. She, however, wasn't. If they bought too many ingredients, they
had a refrigerator to store them until the next time they ate.
"Don't worry. We can finish them all. Besides, even if we don't eat them today, we will have enough to
make other meals."
Greyson nodded, but still didn't understand. He simply shook his head and stood quietly behind the
girls.
He knew all three of them liked eating. They didn't need to worry if they would be able to consume
them all.
Greyson pushed a shopping cart, and Ashley and Ellie pushed another one.
On the way to the cash register, they saw two people in the corner of the store, walking and talking,
hand in hand.
Ashley pretended not to see them and swiveled around, diverting her attention away from the familiar
outline.
In a whisper, the female silhouette nudged the male, and said, "Is that Ashley?" pointing across the
store. "With Ellie?"
The man's ears perked up at the sound of the name Ashley. "Ashley? Where?" He stammered. Lena
held onto Raymond's arm in desperation.
"Over there," she sighed. Raymond's heart beat faster and his eyes twinkled, just at the mention of her
name and he wanted to see her.
Lena sucked air through her teeth. She did not intend to split Raymond's attention with anyone,
especially not Ashley.
She pointed to the direction where Ashley passed. "I am not sure if it is Ashley, but judging from the
back, it looks like her, with Ellie beside her."
He wanted to see her but, he recalled how he and Ashley parted ways in the Vineyard Restaurant.
Clearly, he was blacklisted from speaking with her, but he really wanted to find out about the man she
was with. He seemed powerful. Raymond was not allowed to speak, text, contact, or communicate with
her in any way.
As much as he wanted to interact with Ashley, he heeded the advice of his mother and took care of the
girl he brought to the store.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the group. His head was pounding. He pulled Lena
toward the aisle.
"I think you're mistaken, that's not Ashley," he said as they headed for another direction.
Lena opened her mouth, trying to speak, but she closed it. Then she opened it again to try. The
surprised expression on her face was noticeable.
This was the first time Raymond didn't rush to Ashley at the sound of her name - and she was certain,
despite what he said, that she was in this supermarket.
Lena felt giddy. Was Raymond changing?
...
The three were next to the checkout counter, when Greyson cried out, "Ashley! I need to go back. I lost
something. It's important!" Glaring at Greyson, Ashley hissed, "What?! We've just got to check out and
now you need to go back into the store?"
She exchanged an aggravated expression with Ellie.
They had been shopping for two hours!
Two hours!
Now they had to retrace all their steps, and push two shopping carts.
The thought of pushing two full carts to wander the store again was almost unbearable for Ashley and
Ellie. Their eyes shot daggers at Greyson. Their feet hurt. Their bodies ached. They had no strength
left.
Greyson felt bad, but he pleaded with the girls, "Ashley. Ellie. It is very important to me." His eyes said
it all.
The girls looked at each other again, shrugged, and pushed two full and heavy shopping carts.
This object, whatever it was, was quite important to Greyson.
Ashley said, "Hurry. Let's go. We'll retrace our footsteps and see if we can find it." The supermarket
was swarming with people. Whatever this was could easily have been picked up by someone else.
Passing through the mass of people, they returned to the aisle they left just now.
"So what are we looking for, Greyson?" Ellie asked.
"It's this thing..." Greyson began. "What kind of thing?" Ashley inquired.
Obviously, Greyson couldn't describe the thing to them in detail, so they had to follow behind him, with
the heavy carts and their sore legs.
Then suddenly, Greyson stopped in his tracks
"I'll just go look for it. Wait here," Greyson instructed. The girls dismissed him with a nod. As Greyson
left, Ashley and Ellie nearly bumped into the couple, rounding the corner as they passed by.
Ashley saw the man, but was not able to produce any words with her mouth. She was tongue-tied.
Was that Raymond? With Lena? ***
Lena was equally surprised to see Ashley. Hadn't she just seen Ashley on the way to the checkout
counter? Why was she here?
Instead of avoiding the subject, Lena purred, "I wasn't mistaken just now. It was Ashley." Holding
Raymond's hand, claiming her prize, Lena looked at Ashley.
Meanwhile, Raymond gazed up at Ashley. He longed to stare into her eyes and have her return the
favor.
In his imagination, he saw everything in the world gone and only he and Ashley remained.
Ashley's dismissive glance pulled him back to reality.
Ashley saw the man, with Lena on his arm, and drew back her gaze immediately. That man had
nothing to do with her already.
"Ashley?" Lena called out her sister's name.. "Fancy meeting you here."
'There's nothing fancy about this meeting, but I suppose we will have unexpected meetings from time
to time, ' Ashley thought. She wanted nothing more than for Greyson to return so they could finally pay
for their food and go home. "Yeah, what a coincidence," Ashley said dryly. She wanted to avoid being
anywhere near these people. Seriously, where was Greyson?
Lena grabbed Raymond's hand and said, "Should we make the new dish tonight?" Pivoting toward the
girls, Lena said, "I want to show off my new cooking skills for this fine man."
She smirked at Ashley with her voice proud. "Judging by your carts, you and Ellie may want to invest in
cooking classes too."
Her eyes darted towards the second cart.
"Hmm, Ellie, I see you have a lot of food. What are you going to do? Why are you buying so many
things?" Ellie's patience was also wearing thin.
Her words clipped, she answered, "Nothing. We just needed groceries."
At this time, Greyson rushed to them. "Ashley, Ellie, I found it. Let's go checkout and go home."
"Hallelujah!" The girls said in unison.
"Hold up. I need an introduction to your friends," Greyson said, spotting Lena and Raymond
nearby.
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