Читать книгу Celia's Shadow - Sandy Levy Kirschenbaum - Страница 36

The Linen Closet was a luxury-only shopping spree. She needed nothing, except a new, fresh feel for her home. The thought of refreshing, crisp, cotton sheets against her cool, smooth skin when she got into bed at night made her happy. Soft, unspoiled bath towels hugging her body after a hot steamy shower would be delightful. Her old and soiled dish towels could be replaced with clean, new 100% cotton ones. She removed a shopping cart from the corral at the front of the store and enthusiastically began her shopping adventure.

Aghast at how incredibly gigantic the superstore was, she stood motionless at the entrance. With her hands clasped around the handles of the shopping cart, she took in her surroundings. Kitchen gadgets, bedding, artificial plants and flowers, dishtowels, picture frames, and bathroom and kitchen supplies filled the shelves. She pushed the cart and began her search for new possessions. Before long, she crammed the cart with bedding, linens, kitchen items, towels, and lotions.

Purchasing pillows was not even a distant thought when she set out on her excursion. At aisle four, the oversized fluffy pillows screamed out to her. Touch Me tags dangled from their packaging. She couldn’t resist the fluffy queen-size pillow. She squeezed it and held it to her chest, closing her eyes for a moment. She loaded three of the pillows on top of the dish strainer, the kitchen towels, and the comforter, which had all been tossed into the cart somewhere between the entrance and the beginning of the fourth aisle. She stuffed three more onto the bottom shelf of the cart, above the wheels. She selected new pillows to sleep on, new pillows for the pillow shams that came with the new comforter, and new pillows for the extra pillow shams that would match the comforter.

This cart was full. She should have taken a second one, but she was certain she could handle the awkwardly overloaded cart.

At the back of the store, a magnificent display of brightly colored plastic wastebaskets was set up in four tiers, each perfectly uniform. As Celia navigated around the display, one of the pillows popped up and slid down the side of the cart. She seized the pillow and pulled the corner up. The large Touch Me tag caught the rim of the second tier on the display. The plastic baskets crashed down; the fourth tier fell on the third, plummeted down to the second, the first and then the floor. She tried to stop the imploding event, which made matters worse when she pushed her overloaded cart deeper into the collapsing display. She watched in horror as the red, orange, green, and yellow baskets collided into a colorful pile. The implosion stopped, and a shallow sea of brightly colored plastic baskets surrounded her. She reached down and picked up two of the fallen items. She awkwardly searched the area to see whether anyone had witnessed the incident.

A man nearby observed the collision between the shopping cart and the fallen display. He looked at the debris at her feet. She was uncomfortable, and nervously began to laugh. Not a full belly laugh—simply a quiet shaking laugh of self-consciousness. She was caught. How could she not be? He was right there. It would have been impossible for him not to notice. And equally impossible for her not to notice his eyes. In a split second, she realized he was the same man from Pete’s Market and the car dealership. The brilliant and colorful display encircling her paled in comparison to the bright red her cheeks had become with the hot flush of embarrassment.

“How about this being our little secret?” She smiled at him, scrunched her face, and tilted her head with a begging shrug.

He grinned. “Sure, no problem.”

She bent down and picked up a few more baskets. “I guess I should organize them, huh?” She spoke without raising her head from the mess.

“Nah, I’m sure that’s somebody’s job. I would, however, suggest you leave before someone arrives with police tape to block off the area.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” She stood, took hold of her cart, and walked toward the cash registers. An announcement for cleanup assistance in the back of the store came over the loudspeakers. She paid for her purchases and was happy—very happy—to leave.

Celia loaded her purchases into the back of her car. She got into the driver’s seat, fastened her seat belt and dialed Kate.

“Kate!” She all but screamed into the phone.

“You’re calling from your cell phone? Please tell me there isn’t anything wrong with your new car. Tell me you’re not having a problem. Please.”

“I’m fine. The car is fine. This is much worse.”

“Celia, what’s wrong?” Kate prepared herself for terrible news.

“I just saw him!” she shrieked. “I’m at the Linen Closet and I saw that guy with the nice eyes! The one from Pete’s Market and the car place! The non-booper! Oh my God! He was in the store when I was there.” Celia started the car, but didn’t drive away; instead, she sat, idling the engine.

“You scared me, Celia. I expected something terrible.”

“This felt terrible. I’m so embarrassed.” Kate heard the panic in Celia’s voice.

“Why are you embarrassed? Celia, you were shopping in the same store. It’s not a thing to be embarrassed about. I’m sure there were other people shopping too. Right?”

“The store was almost empty, and he was right near where I was. I knocked over a few trash barrels. He watched the whole thing. He was right there! I felt like an idiot! I asked him to keep the little accident our secret. I’m an idiot, an absolute idiot. Now I hope I never see him again. I’m totally embarrassed.”

Kate laughed, and Celia knew why. “Don’t say that. This is what they call a cute meet. You see this in movies all the time. It’s a fate thing or something like that. Maybe your clumsiness will help him remember you better. What was he doing in a store like that?”

“What do you mean, a store like that? What’s wrong with that kind of store? I was in there.”

“I usually don’t see a lot of guys in linen stores. You know what I mean?”

Celia was silent for a minute. “I guess you’re right.”

“What kind of stuff was he buying?”

“I have no idea. I had just taken out an entire end-cap display of trash thingies. I was thinking about how stupid I looked. I never thought to check out his purchases.”

“What do you mean, an entire display? You said you knocked over a few trash barrels.” Kate laughed. “You took out an entire end-cap. I knew it! I knew it wasn’t as simple as you tried to make it sound. You’re too funny.”

“Stop.” Celia was used to feeling this sort of embarrassment.

“You’re so klutzy, it’s comical. Are you still in the parking lot? See if there’s a Navigator in the lot. Maybe he bought that car he was looking at.” Kate found Celia’s mishaps, of which there were many, very amusing.

“You’re a genius. Why didn’t I think of that?” Celia turned to her right and then craned her neck to look behind her car. “I don’t see anything.” She continued to peruse the parking lot for his car.

“You could wait until he leaves the store, then you could see what car he goes into. Would this be considered stalking?” Kate didn’t expect a serious answer to the question.

“I don’t know. I think it is stalking. I’m going to Google stalking to see if I fit into the stalker category.”

“He probably lives somewhere around there.”

“I wonder if he does. I feel like a real jerk.”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure it wasn’t that bad. Right?”

“Yeah, right.” Celia didn’t believe her own words.