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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYCYTjfMyo
She weighed her options. Would it be worth it to drive to a cheaper grocery store? How much did petrol cost that day?
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKZuf9ZZ9E
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHcEf4WPOuz
She went inside the store to pay for groceries, grumbling about the prices to the poor woman at the register.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡse6PmHp4XB
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJObBFfGTgK
‘About bloody time,’ Karen said.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnseb9oUqdN
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbHyCxHaFqi
Karen pulled out a pack of energy drink cans. ‘And these?’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYAgN1G7bzL
Kyle snatched it from her. ‘And these.’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjEuQHY8bE
‘How was school?’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa28zJzAvrA
‘Alright. Boring. Keith said he’ll let me borrow his copy of Code of Revenge: Gears of The Soldier.’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTqR6EzLrZv
‘Is that a g-’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgs34T2k7tv
‘Yep.’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnSYourYIhi
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdH57jzsgfr
All she managed to say was, ‘Uh, that’s nice. Just make sure you don’t stay up too late playing it.’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKl0AXYUOEZ
Ah, the classic line when you don’t know how to talk to your children about video games.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgo9aqRE57s
‘Oh, and Kyle, give me your pocket knife. I know you bought one.’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQU2yPtOf0I
‘But mum-’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEp8FJvAFJ
‘I don’t want that game influencing you!’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwaE2vaSn8k
‘It’s for self-defence!’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE9EJZLgQOJ
‘Why would you need that?’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0wTVAHBpt
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrbgfBm6Nc
‘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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQrejFU5qG
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ87993wgor
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNr2UxJCoVy
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zoUpMNT8s
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGADInnqn2
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡziuJ10xsUP
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?’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgtnQf1Mldd
Blood scorched rapidly through Karen’s veins. ‘I’m not here for you.’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuSpo7f6jf
Frema raised an eyebrow. ‘When did I suggest that?’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5gJjR5yjW
That boiling blood went straight to Karen’s cheeks. That dumb vixen must have cursed her with her luscious lips and spellbinding eyes!
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9taExlJhxH
‘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?’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsFHQBAJgn
‘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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9s5zbnwznU
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmlzWMhPNi
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4BawZ2n2v
Upon realising how ridiculous she must have looked, she put the packet back in the trolley.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSAA63dFLjX
‘It’s not like your customer service was great even when you were working,’ she said.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgVWLKLXB9
‘I apologise.’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7y4L3b92U3
‘Thank y-’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWGZbJL394C
‘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.’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRDcGULu3T
‘Surely you’re allowed to give discounts!’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtzBSRJdcn0
A few shoppers turned their heads to witness this loud argument.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFZIKvKlgGk
Frema put her hands on her hips, swishing her blazer behind her. Karen noticed. ‘On what grounds would I give you a discount?’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqwl6TEdCmL
‘Y-you… have a nice jacket!’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXcvVR5w7d
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLODY2163q5
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkC6vR2pkl
‘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?’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6sMirHEsS
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCULR5zk40G
‘I meant to say I should get a widow’s discount,’ she admitted.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqohknhCjGt
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.’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Ie4lxP21r
Karen glared at Frema. ‘Well, enjoy your one compliment. It’s all you’re getting.’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbOWPunxlV6
‘Shame. I have a whole collection of these blazers at home. All different colours.’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbwUMqQMkW
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfbdxXe17xU
‘I’m Frema, by the way.’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrC31yBQ4uP
‘Karen.’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDzEvgAy2wT
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkqKSFSWdtj
‘Don’t tell the higher-ups that I’m complaining, but there really should be more kosher stuff here,’ she murmured.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1tKQdb01U
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ8fCxCLqn1
Wait, why was she disappointed? It wasn't like, if Frema was a Christian like Karen, they could…
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfnRkjYZsOP
Karen blinked quickly and her cheeks somehow got even hotter. Why was she even entertaining this idea? Hell, what idea was she even entertaining?
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6PGhHYOhvp
‘Are you okay?’ Frema asked, getting just a little too close to Karen’s face.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrkCwlQbDX9
‘I’m perfectly fine. I was just surprised. You don’t exactly-’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwDi1w8Ncb
‘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.’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ49PuuOYGW
‘I’m sorry.’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDSmjnAvliy
‘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.’
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6cRdrYW3z5
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHfTqyEfm5k
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.
359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfQauYWcQcO
She was deeply, intensely attracted to this woman359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qxwmChHUi
