With a new found determination, Faye began the ascent of the staircase to the room she had come to know quite well within the past few weeks. She checked her watch, noting that she was a few minutes late, so she picked up her speed as she reached the top of the stairs. Inside the room, she noticed her peers were beginning to leave, and raised her eyebrow in confusion.
"Come!" Megan smiled as she walked past her, "we're going on a field trip"
Lee was the last person to approach her, a small smile appearing on his face, "didn't expect to see you here"
"Yeah well, I'm in conflict" Faye sighed
"So you came to work on it?" Lee asked
"No, I came to avoid it"
He chuckled as he walked out of the room, Faye following closely behind.
-----
The group of seven arrived at the local grocery store and hurried inside as Megan began explaining the task they would be undertaking.
"You'll be put into pairs, and you'll each be given something to do," she began, "one of you will cause a problem, and the other will complain about what you're doing. The pair who's conflict lasts the longest will win a prize"
"I hope we get paired up" Faye whispered to Melanie, who nodded eagerly in response.
Megan held out a paper bag to each of the group, allowing them to choose a coloured ball. The two people who had the same colour would be paired up, she had explained.
As Faye pulled out a blue ball from the bag, she sighed as she saw Melanie had a pink ball, and would ultimately be pairing up with H. Grace and Daniel both had yellow balls, so they too would be pairing up, leaving Faye to pair up with-
"Hey partner" Lee smiled, showing her the ball he had picked
"Just great" she mumbled under her breath
"Okay, Faye and Lee, one of you will complain that you're a dime short in change, the other will be in the line behind, complaining. Melanie and H, one of you will want a price check, and Grace and Daniel, one of you will want to get an extra item when you're in the middle of paying. Okay, good luck guys!" Megan ushered them off as she began a timer
Five minutes later, Faye found herself at the front of the line, about to pay for a few items she'd chosen at random for the task. Her total was $11.85 and she handed the cashier a $20 bill, hand out and ready to receive the change. She took a moment to count it, taking shaky breaths as she did so.
"Come on Faye" Lee mumbled under his breath
That was all the encouragement she needed as she opened her mouth to speak, "I'm 10¢ short"
The cashier looked at her for a moment, "are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure" her voice was a little unsteady, but she was getting through it
"Come on lady, it's 10¢!" Lee tutted from behind her
"No but it's really important to me that I-" she paused for a moment, "get the right change"
"Here" the woman in the line behind Lee piped up, sliding a dime across the counter, "here's 10¢"
"No, don't help her" Lee intercepted the coin and pushed it back toward her
"Faye?" the woman recognised the girl
"Mrs Rogers? Wow hi, I haven't seen you in years" Faye smiled
"Probably not since 12th grade" the woman chuckled, "I read your book, by the way, it was fantastic"
"Thank you, Mrs Rogers. It means so much coming from-"
"Ladies, this is lovely, but would you mind? I have places to be" Lee groaned
"We should do brunch" Mrs Rogers smiled
On the next cash register over, Melanie had just finished having her shopping scanned when the cashier spoke, "that'll be $28.75"
"I would like a price check on that item" Melanie all but whispered, pointing to a frozen pizza that was placed in the cart.
"Speak up woman" H tutted
"I would like a price check" she began again, fairly shaky but much louder than before, "on that item" she finished confidently, gesturing to the pizza.
The cashier rolled her eyes but called over a colleague nonetheless to explain the situation.
On yet another till, Daniel was explaining to the cashier how he needed another item, much to the annoyance of everyone else in the line. A few comments were thrown at him, mostly by Grace, but he went to retrieve another item, albeit slowly, before paying and finishing their task.
"Listen" Faye sighed, "it's really important to me that I get that 10¢ because my favourite uncle gave me a dime before he died and it's been 10 years since he died and I- Oh, 10 years, like 10¢" she trailed off sadly
Lee rolled his eyes, "you've got to be kidding me"
"Please" Faye begged the cashier
At that moment, almost everyone in the store approached the desk to drop a 10¢ coin onto the table, forming a large pile in front of her.
"Oh, um thank you. Thanks, everyone" Faye nodded meekly, taking the coins and moving out of the way.
A few moments later, Lee caught up to her, "we made a great team"
She smiled to herself, nodding slightly, "yeah. We really did"
They joined up with the group again; the last duo to return from their task, as everyone looked expectantly at Megan.
"Well, the winners are Faye and Lee, congratulations!" Megan announced, wasting no time at all
"I told you you should've taken longer" Grace nudged Daniel in the side, causing him to yelp out in pain
"Great job you guys!" Megan smiled, "here's your prize - a coupon to La Grenouille!"
She handed the coupons to Faye and Lee quickly, before returning to her notes.
"Lucky" H sighed, "I've wanted to eat there for ages, but they're always so busy. And expensive" he added as an after thought
"Okay guys, now, you have an assignment to complete before our next class okay? I want you to go and see someone who causes you conflict. You can stay in your pairs from tonight - have someone to go with you for moral support" Megan looked around the group to see everyone nodding slightly.
Everyone slowly got up to leave, but as Faye made a move, she felt a hand on her arm.
"When are we going to lunch then?"
"Excuse me?" she asked
Lee waved the coupon in front of her, "Lunch"
"Oh no, we're not going to lunch"
"Come on Faye, give it a chance" he pleaded
She sighed, accepting defeat, "Fine, lunch"
"Tomorrow?" Lee asked hopefully
"Uh yeah, tomorrow works for me. See you then" she swiftly made her exit, giving him no time to reply
"Yeah, tomorrow" he smiled slightly to himself.
YOU ARE READING
Love's Complicated// Flee
FanfictionAfter she joins a conflict resolution group, an author is surprised to find herself falling for the man who gave her first novel a scathing review. - Flee au in which Faye is an author and Lee is a radio talk show host who really hated her first boo...
