Chapter 2: Karen vs The Supermarket
Upon seeing the banana prices outside a local grocery store, Karen received a rude awakening. They were even higher than in the supermarket! Sure, they seemed to be a smidge better in quality, but if she bought a kilogram of these, she would have to only buy half a kilogram of grapes and that simply would not do. If Kyle punched one more hole in the wall, Karen was sure the wall would crumble and the ceiling would fall on top of him.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0qLKt2SjH
She weighed her options. Would it be worth it to drive to a cheaper grocery store? How much did petrol cost that day?
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWtCLFt6jb
Eventually, she compromised and pulled a couple of bananas off the bunch to make it lighter. Keeping Kyle’s hunger for grapes satiated was much more important than some bananas.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpyAjGZGTI
She went inside the store to pay for groceries, grumbling about the prices to the poor woman at the register.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMHpfxxHbIh
The sun was just beginning to set when Karen was done with all her shopping. Her back was sore from hunching over a desk all day, made worse by carrying the grocery bags to her car. Once she was home, she ordered her children to help her put away the groceries. Sharon and Carol didn’t bother but Kyle joined her.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmYCxHDYMAF
‘About bloody time,’ Karen said.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX2A44McvuS
Kyle opened one of the bags, picked a single grape and popped it in his mouth. ‘Just here for these,’ he claimed, though he continued helping.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8RImgDlxMT
Karen pulled out a pack of energy drink cans. ‘And these?’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMCo8qc3MZ
Kyle snatched it from her. ‘And these.’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWsGHCU4Z7
‘How was school?’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTatzyW7itd
‘Alright. Boring. Keith said he’ll let me borrow his copy of Code of Revenge: Gears of The Soldier.’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxY7isfqjnI
‘Is that a g-’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgd6PkiFSPa
‘Yep.’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhBJG0KC0N5
Karen fell silent. Her knowledge of video games was limited to what she heard on the news, not nearly enough to carry a conversation about them.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVd0oQZ4Ru
All she managed to say was, ‘Uh, that’s nice. Just make sure you don’t stay up too late playing it.’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWn5Ezm11Rg
Ah, the classic line when you don’t know how to talk to your children about video games.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡioTI99P3hk
‘Oh, and Kyle, give me your pocket knife. I know you bought one.’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUiq0t3uucr
‘But mum-’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSas5uL8Yw0
‘I don’t want that game influencing you!’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFAUZHmhqYf
‘It’s for self-defence!’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmf6kEPYaAy
‘Why would you need that?’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQwWk3MwSO
Kyle kicked one of the grocery bags on the floor. ‘You know what? Put this shit away yourself.’ He stormed back to his room and shook the frame as he slammed the door shut.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xNdzTI1jw
‘Hey, come back!’ Karen shouted. No response. The ache in Karen’s back got worse as she leaned down to pick up items from grocery bags herself. Her arms were too weak to lift an entire bag onto the kitchen bench, which would have lessened the strain of leaning down.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5nEZiyFOjB
The following week, Karen tried another grocery store. The prices were better but the selection was downright embarrassing. There was none of the variety promised by living in the great capitalist landscape of Australia. Karen was sorely disappointed.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKkQnu8I0bJ
Of course, Karen had to make this disappointment known to the cashier. ‘I may as well live in Russia if I’m getting this little choice.’ The cashier had no choice but to laugh awkwardly and grit her bared teeth.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXoWzaFxsHI
When Karen looked into the half-empty boot, devoid of many of the groceries she needed, she knew enough was enough. She winced at the thought but could no longer avoid a simple truth: she had to return to that supermarket.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3NQT8eRfw
As she drove home, she considered how to avoid that manager and decided to shop on a different day. For the first time in a while, she grinned.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEo1bdeJkY1
That grin did not survive the following week’s shopping trip. Frema Nazarian, that beautiful witch, was at the supermarket, albeit as just another shopper. She wore a tight red shirt, scandalous high-waisted pale lemon shorts and a form-fitting blazer the colour of sand.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0GboKjmNa
And, of course, the witch smirked upon seeing Karen. ‘I must have misheard you a few weeks ago. I thought you said something along the lines of ‘I’m never coming back here again!’ Did you actually say something else?’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUCAv8U2AR
Blood scorched rapidly through Karen’s veins. ‘I’m not here for you.’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaNHS0lN0MQ
Frema raised an eyebrow. ‘When did I suggest that?’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZisLGu68i
That boiling blood went straight to Karen’s cheeks. That dumb vixen must have cursed her with her luscious lips and spellbinding eyes!
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgxSvQSddz
‘Uh, that… you just seemed like the kind of person to think about something like that. And why are you being so rude to a customer?’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUpgD4SQIM
‘I’m not on the clock, am I?’ Frema asked as she pulled a jar of instant coffee from a shelf. A strong, agonisingly palpable desire nestled in Karen’s heart, eager to be quenched. This desire? To one-up Frema.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EzpDbBQ34
She reached up towards an even higher shelf on the opposite side of the aisle. Alas, she was too short to pick up the packet of biscuits. Frema saw Karen’s flailing arm and grabbed the item for her, gracefully placing it in Karen’s trolley.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjW33MNrNef
Karen snatched the biscuit packet from the trolley and held it up to her chest like she was guarding it with her life. She stared at this audacious succubus with wide eyes that popped out of their sockets.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLt5ybRuEy
Upon realising how ridiculous she must have looked, she put the packet back in the trolley.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEef9f0A6zj
‘It’s not like your customer service was great even when you were working,’ she said.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZHE7wiSDHk
‘I apologise.’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkj57pIAxxm
‘Thank y-’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnD25xSgdaL
‘I should have magically been transferred to both the marketing department and the accounting department so I could change the prices of bananas for you.’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2DQXSgu7J
‘Surely you’re allowed to give discounts!’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXz9oKUtHWQ
A few shoppers turned their heads to witness this loud argument.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9miHjWEDXr
Frema put her hands on her hips, swishing her blazer behind her. Karen noticed. ‘On what grounds would I give you a discount?’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvnob3Olau
‘Y-you… have a nice jacket!’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4fIsW62wD
Karen scrunched her lips inside her mouth like she had just drunk unsweetened lemonade, her entire face now the colour of raspberries. Frema froze, as did the shoppers. Karen mulled over ways she could dig a hole in the ground to die in without breaking the pipes down below.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoo425ubgju
Frema’s laugh was perhaps the ugliest laugh possible, a nasal cackle with plenty of snorting. Yet, somehow, it was also the sweetest laugh Karen had ever heard. A few customers grew bored of the deflated conflict and resumed their shopping.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHESgv4RDl
‘I’ll tell you what,’ Frema said in between laughs. ‘I’ll give you 1 per cent off per compliment. Do we have a deal?’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3HmaKoh0tO
Karen crossed her arms and looked beside her at the seemingly mocking smiles of the various brand mascots. At least their stares didn’t embarrass her as much as Frema’s beautifully horrendous giggling.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhn8OaJC0rF
‘I meant to say I should get a widow’s discount,’ she admitted.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaDVAElhPAt
Frema wiped a tear from her eye and held back the dregs of her laughter. ‘I’m sorry for your loss. I don’t know how you got from widow’s discount to how good my jacket looks, but hey, I’ll take it.’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpf222Vtazi
Karen glared at Frema. ‘Well, enjoy your one compliment. It’s all you’re getting.’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuCJyPGS3ub
‘Shame. I have a whole collection of these blazers at home. All different colours.’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbBUwCr2QZ
Karen thought to ask if she had a collection of shorts no one her age should wear, but she held her tongue and returned her gaze to the mascots on the shelf.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZrczq5YLO
‘I’m Frema, by the way.’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcz9QVT1Kt
‘Karen.’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1s4cMnG83Q
Frema went back to her task of putting items in her trolley. She looked for a symbol on an instant coffee jar and groaned when it wasn’t there.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyXhaMPXz0
‘Don’t tell the higher-ups that I’m complaining, but there really should be more kosher stuff here,’ she murmured.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePHzzLfsWs
Karen whipped her head towards Frema. She felt a twinge of disappointment that Frema wasn’t Christian, though she had a feeling when she first heard her foreign-sounding name.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs1SdTugM4X
Wait, why was she disappointed? It wasn't like, if Frema was a Christian like Karen, they could…
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMJRprraU3
Karen blinked quickly and her cheeks somehow got even hotter. Why was she even entertaining this idea? Hell, what idea was she even entertaining?
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaWKUopstOG
‘Are you okay?’ Frema asked, getting just a little too close to Karen’s face.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFBux1Ejiw
‘I’m perfectly fine. I was just surprised. You don’t exactly-’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMRf0eNyGM
‘Look Jewish? Yeah, that’s probably because I’m a Mizrahi Jew.’ She pulled a necklace chain out from underneath her shirt, revealing a Star of David pendant. ‘Persian, to be exact, though my mum was born in Israel.’ Frema chuckled, though the sound took on a bitter tone. ‘Sorry I don’t look like Woody Allen.’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ430oU1VoBv
‘I’m sorry.’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqROdg4BJTk
‘All good. I’m used to it. Shouldn’t be, but I am. But hey, I managed to get an apology from you. That’s a start.’
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8KIfp3zSYa
Karen started pushing her trolley as Frema chatted about various topics, also pushing her trolley. Frema was surprisingly talkative and Karen was content to listen because, every so often, her laughter would come out. Karen found herself grinning ear to ear every time she heard it.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA39lmyb659
By the end of their shopping trip, the corners of Karen’s mouth had lowered completely. A realisation dropped two tonnes’ worth of bricks onto her heart.
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoH4nAq4OV6
She was deeply, intensely attracted to this woman623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqcO9Dsg3g
