Lockdown | Conor Mason

Down the Neighborhood

I'd never heard the market so quiet. It fucking freaked me out.

I moved around the produce, fastidiously avoiding the handful of other people milling, peering at the fruits and vegetables and casting sidelong glances at each other. Two meters! their eyes all seemed to scream. I'm sure mine screamed as well.

I was putting the cucumbers in my basket when I noticed her.

At first I couldn't place it, that familiar shock of thick, wavy brown hair, tiny shoulders and slender back. But her eyes were unmistakable as I rounded the tomatoes and moved cautiously toward her.

With her hair tousled around her face and her mask covering her nose and mouth, she looked something like a warrior princess - a small one. I shook off the thought and spoke softly in an attempt not to startle her.

"Amelia?"

I swear she jumped three feet in the air, her basket sliding down her arm and nearly crashing to the floor. Instinctively I reached out to steady her, but remembered just in time and shrank back, keeping my distance.

To my dismay, when her eyes met mine, they were blank. No sign of recognition shimmered behind their hazel flecks. I felt a lump begin to grow in my throat as I opened my mouth to speak again.

But then her eyes cleared, and those wrinkles creased their edges. Something weird happened in my stomach at the sight. But the next moment, she was yelling.

"For fuck's sake, you scared the living shit out..." Her voice dropped as a family with two small children passed by, and she quieted, shaking her head.

"Sorry, I keep doing that," I apologized, but couldn't help snickering. "Bit different, never been much of an intimidating persona," I teased.

She just shook her head again and cleared her throat. "Well. Nice to see you, then...how's it going?" She fixed me again with those hazel eyes. Suddenly my mind ceased functioning. I was transfixed.

"You know," I replied. "The shopping."

One of her eyebrows raised, inquisitive. "What's for dinner, then?" Her voice was more even now, her turn to tease.

"Oh, uh," I stammered. What was I even cooking tonight? Who knew. Probably toast and tofu as usual, since I couldn't be arsed to cook anything new in this vegan journey.

"Don't know really. Got suggestions?" I peered at her as she resumed what she'd been doing, reaching for a bag from shelf full of nuts. "Cashews, eh?"

"Right, for cashew cream sauce." She tossed her hair from her eyes as she placed the package in her basket.

I looked at her blankly. She paused. Now both her eyebrows raised.

"You haven't...made cashew sauce? The unsurpassed liquid gold of the vegan world?"

Her eyes were laughing at me now, and I was thankful for my mask as I felt a blush rise. I shrugged, wordless.

"Right, okay," she said, and pointed to the shelf. I took a package.

"Now follow me." She beckoned as she turned and started walking. What could I do but obey?

"'Nutritional yeast,' huh?" I read the jar she was now pointing to in the baking aisle. I didn't intend it, but I could hear the disdain in my voice.

"It's the closest you're gonna get to cheese sauce," she replied as I skeptically put the jar in my basket. "And it's amazing. Blitz that in the blender with the cashews and some almond milk, bit of salt, garlic if you're feeling it..."

I looked up to thank her.

But over her shoulder I noticed someone moving toward us, looking at me intently. I quickly realized what was about to happen. I knew how to deal with this in the regular world, but...

"Conor? Conor Mason?!"

The woman -- girl, I should probably say, I couldn't be sure if she was even 18 -- was ecstatic, careening toward me, her unmasked face aglow with excitement. Amelia shrank back in alarm.

"Yes, hello," I heard myself say, in that voice I hadn't used for what seemed like months - the celebrity persona voice.

I put my hands out in front of me, protectively, and she slowed, but showed no signs of stopping.

"Two meters, please, thanks." I could be firm when I wanted to be, and I think I startled her with the sharpness in my voice. But thankfully she stopped, now across the aisle from where me and Amelia stood.

The three of us made an equilateral triangle, I thought to myself bizarrely, as I nodded and smiled at the fan, who was now talking at lightning speed about how much she loved my voice, loved Nothing But Thieves, how we changed her life.

I smiled and nodded as much as I could, one eye still on Amelia, who looked like she wanted to dart from the building.

"Thanks so much," I replied, cutting the fan off mid-sentence. "I really appreciate it. Shall we take a selfie? If you stand there and hold up your phone..."

Her eyes widened and she nearly squealed as she turned, looking up into her phone. I gave my best smile, figuring I'd see this somewhere on Twitter later today. Thank goodness I had a baseball cap on - otherwise who knew what this half-grown-out mullet would have looked like.

When she finally left, in a sea of thank-yous, I turned to Amelia. "Sorry about that," I said. "Happens sometimes."

She nodded. "I didn't know you were so famous," she said, and by the way she closed her eyes for a moment after she spoke, I knew she wished she hadn't. I laughed.

"Depends where I am. London is prime recognizing zone. Plus," I said, looking around, "unfortunately that means I have about three minutes to get out of here, so..."

She looked at me quizzically, and I knew I wouldn't have time to explain. But a brainstorm hit me as I backed away from her, toward the cashiers.

"You making that cashew stuff tonight?" A nod. "Shall we eat together then?" Another quizzical look. "I mean, on the decks? Each bring their own? Like 7 o'clock?" She nodded slowly. I'd reached the end of the aisle now.

"Great, look forward to it, see you then!"

"Okay...bye, Conor."

All the way home my name repeated in my head, spoken in her voice.

--