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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnb9mNKwAhp
She weighed her options. Would it be worth it to drive to a cheaper grocery store? How much did petrol cost that day?
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgxVBUrIcH
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXG2LAtQY7S
She went inside the store to pay for groceries, grumbling about the prices to the poor woman at the register.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj5ntGUFq7g
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEiAtupD2bq
‘About bloody time,’ Karen said.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoALMWv7pk
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyAD2NuZIdu
Karen pulled out a pack of energy drink cans. ‘And these?’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILYt4nr3xI
Kyle snatched it from her. ‘And these.’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZc9mtktdh
‘How was school?’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd08LFua0vu
‘Alright. Boring. Keith said he’ll let me borrow his copy of Code of Revenge: Gears of The Soldier.’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGVkBWt7Le
‘Is that a g-’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9zgy3aW5yl
‘Yep.’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7kh5hRy0X
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdoRrug1bJX
All she managed to say was, ‘Uh, that’s nice. Just make sure you don’t stay up too late playing it.’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNhCvM8rRE
Ah, the classic line when you don’t know how to talk to your children about video games.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLnQakRPzQN
‘Oh, and Kyle, give me your pocket knife. I know you bought one.’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwzfyTTzz3t
‘But mum-’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtoPVMImH1
‘I don’t want that game influencing you!’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6spy4TtjM
‘It’s for self-defence!’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpULeux7ft
‘Why would you need that?’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMzZblTyAdp
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS1IY08JIRh
‘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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGDq03LpI9
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsw2ti7xrC
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNNfvpaTc4V
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwEPQTd1g7k
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKxawdHPFFz
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5d5LhK44xo
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?’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWbNoXkzAk
Blood scorched rapidly through Karen’s veins. ‘I’m not here for you.’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pzjyJ6WtI
Frema raised an eyebrow. ‘When did I suggest that?’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ74FPh1lRbv
That boiling blood went straight to Karen’s cheeks. That dumb vixen must have cursed her with her luscious lips and spellbinding eyes!
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnINKuh4WnT
‘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?’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrflcMjJP9
‘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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPU0EfhQZbn
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaKXEFYuima
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0iGp0rZPdi
Upon realising how ridiculous she must have looked, she put the packet back in the trolley.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHncO0jQCHr
‘It’s not like your customer service was great even when you were working,’ she said.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3kOQkajqk
‘I apologise.’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJsF3SL3M7A
‘Thank y-’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdqRf3Anr7
‘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.’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQPc9WTTM4m
‘Surely you’re allowed to give discounts!’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5cBSJyNQP3
A few shoppers turned their heads to witness this loud argument.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡde6JAH31OX
Frema put her hands on her hips, swishing her blazer behind her. Karen noticed. ‘On what grounds would I give you a discount?’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV9FhPsRzcR
‘Y-you… have a nice jacket!’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7vW1rvZou
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNDlybmoCKv
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr2zkub30ZF
‘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?’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5a9gYT0zIb
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL5mN7ApQSu
‘I meant to say I should get a widow’s discount,’ she admitted.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3QRKT0ZvH
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.’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdM42yp3z9J
Karen glared at Frema. ‘Well, enjoy your one compliment. It’s all you’re getting.’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbbmygelxU
‘Shame. I have a whole collection of these blazers at home. All different colours.’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy3go9K87K3
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXc9saaxu6p
‘I’m Frema, by the way.’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKocsmcWAp
‘Karen.’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnpW1Ct0jBp
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbONIcphMa
‘Don’t tell the higher-ups that I’m complaining, but there really should be more kosher stuff here,’ she murmured.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvAcfD52sD
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9eEyRNWRTf
Wait, why was she disappointed? It wasn't like, if Frema was a Christian like Karen, they could…
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSMZbGOQsb
Karen blinked quickly and her cheeks somehow got even hotter. Why was she even entertaining this idea? Hell, what idea was she even entertaining?
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wVLymkUgn
‘Are you okay?’ Frema asked, getting just a little too close to Karen’s face.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvn4EdrU9A3
‘I’m perfectly fine. I was just surprised. You don’t exactly-’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkNf7FeiWf
‘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.’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FikCbc6LO
‘I’m sorry.’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ83SuVpIxAN
‘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.’
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgrHmsrolJ0
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejsKK7efQw
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.
338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYIjPVIDMH
She was deeply, intensely attracted to this woman338Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQzFOIg67RE
