Strawberry Milk

1

"Where is it?" He mumbles to himself as he searches the refrigerator. After searching it twice looking for the last box of strawberry milk he sighs and closes the refrigerator.

It had been a long day for the little boy and he whined from frustration. He knew there was only one way to get his beloved strawberry milk, and that was taking a trip to the grocery store.

A place he hated going alone too, especially when in such as small headspace. But he was running low on food and he knew his friends would still be at work, so he walked to the living room. He grabbed his keys, wallet, put on a comfy little sweater and some comfortable tennis shoes, and was out the door.

He waits a bit for his uber driver to come. It didn't take very long for a white uber vehicle to pull up in front of his apartment building. In the car was a lady around his age. She smiled at him and waved hello as he walked towards the car.

"Hello, are you Cole?"

He nods his head and climbs into the front seat.

"Buckle up then safety first. We're going to be driving for a while apparently." She smiled and motioned for him to secure himself in the seat belt.

This was another reason the boy didn't like going grocery shopping. The nearest grocery store was a 20-minute drive from his place.

The car was quiet for a bit with the exception of the radio playing soft jazz in the background before the women spoke again.

"So, how was your day?" It was small talk but he appreciated it nonetheless.

"It was okay. I had work today."

"Oh okay, what do you do for a living?"

"I work at this small boutique in the city."

"Oh, really that sounds really cool." He smiled and nodded at her response.

He liked her voice, it was very soothing. It wasn't exactly deep but it wasn't too high pitched. She spoke slow and evened out her words.

"So what are you getting from the grocery store today?"

He looked toward her and then towards his lap.

"Well, I need some strawberry milk, almond milk, so fruits and vegetables, I'm some fish maybe but I'm not sure I don't really like going towards the seafood section because I feel bad for the dead animals.." He continued to ramble on about what he was getting from the store. Unknowingly regressing as he ended up talking about what he might want to eat for dinner and then what he wanted to do after dinner.

But the women didn't mind at all. She thought it was very cute. She smiled and listened quietly nodding and humming to show she was paying attention to him.

They were 5 minutes away from the grocery store before he stopped talking. He blushed now aware that he had been rambling for the past 10 minutes.

The women looked towards him confused as to why he abruptly ended.

"What wr-?" He stopped her mid-sentence.

"I'm sorry for rambling like that, it's just that it's been a while since I've has the chance to talk to somebody else like this, and you are a complete stranger and I don't know why I'm telling you this."

She smiled and started laughing quietly before it became louder. He became even redder from embarrassment and confusion. Before he could question her about it she spoke.

"It's okay you don't have to about it, I enjoyed it. This ride has been more entertaining than most of my clients today. You're the first to have spoken almost the entire ride. Everyone else has just has been on their phones ignoring me."

He giggled softly and smiled.

"Here how about this. Since I've had such a lovely drive with you, and it is going to end very soon how about I give you my personal number and we can go out sometime?"

He smiled and nodded his head. He liked that idea very much. He was sad he had to leave soon because he liked her energy and presence but he knew he could see her again so he wasn't too upset.

She pulled into the grocery store parking lot and stopped the car, now arriving at his destination. She motioned towards his phone so she could put her number in. He opened his phone and handed it to her.

After a bit of typing, she returned his phone smiling at him. As he was exiting the car she told him to call her later about setting a date to meet up. He smiled and agreed. She waved goodbye and pulled away, he assumed she had already received a new client and was going to pick them up.

He smiled and looked down at his phone to see the contact.

Kayla (Uber Lady) -(xxx)xxx-xxxx.

Her name was Kayla. He closed his phone and shoved it in his pocket and walked into the grocery store. Where he spent the next hour shopping for groceries for the next month.

He was delighted when he found his strawberry milk and bought 3 cartons of it. Just in case he ran out.

The next hour was spent checking out, driving home back in a uber with a nice man. The conversation was nowhere near as interesting as it was driving there with Kayla. But the man was nice enough to help him with the groceries to his front step. He made sure tipped the man in appreciation.

After putting up all of his groceries he poured himself a cup of his favorite milk in a Sippy cup and cuddle up on the couch with his favorite stuffy. He turned on the Princess and the frog his favorite Disney movie and relaxed.

After half an hour into the movie before he remembered to text her.

He pulled out his phone. And clicked on her contact.

He typed something short and sweet before throwing his phone back on the couch and returned to his movie.

.....Hi, this is Cole from the Uber ride today. Are you available next week Monday? I had a really nice ride with you today. 🙂