Aisleland Paradise

Chapter 14

"No, you're fucking NOT going to see Todd, Anna. What the fuck!"

"It's not a big deal, nothing's going to happen!"

James was at his absolute wit's end.

"He's goddamned MARRIED. What's your best-case scenario here?"

She knew full well that James was 100% correct on this one, but damned if she was going to admit it. She was going to see Todd, she had already made peace with that. Arguing about whether or not she should was like trying to decide whether or not she wanted the sun to come up tomorrow; it didn't matter, it was going to happen no matter how anyone felt about it, so just accept it and move on.

"Nothing's going to happen!"

"Because he's married?"

"Stop being a dick!"

"This shit's getting old. You keep putting yourself in these terrible situations then acting like you're a victim of circumstances beyond your control. NEITHER of these guys are any good, Anna, so move the fuck along."

"It's just dinner!"

"At his mansion where his wife lives?"

"You don't know that he's actually for-sure married."

James stormed out of his living room, the frustration was just too much. He went to his room and slammed the door shut. He didn't understand. She had to do this, she had to know for sure, had to hear it from him, or she couldn't possibly move on. Anna put her lipstick in her purse and grabbed her keys. She had almost convinced herself that what she was saying was true: that she didn't actually, officially, for sure, know that Todd was married. There was a lot of pretty good evidence supporting the claim, and KJ seemed legit when she told Anna about it, but Anna had been quick to jump to conclusions with Todd before, and she only barely knew KJ. Anna grabbed her keys and headed to the door. She owed it to Todd to give him a chance to explain himself, that's why she agreed to this. It wasn't even a formal dinner, he just invited her over to hang out for a bit. She said goodbye to James' closed door on her way out.

It was early when she got to Todd's, that was a nice change, and when she walked into the wing where she used to live, she was met by a smiling Todd, right there waiting for her to arrive. He was setting the dining room table with some homemade chicken piccata and he smiled warmly at her like nothing bad had ever happened between them.

"I was worried you were going to stand me up again." He glowed, playfully giving her some shit.

She hadn't thought about it like that. Todd hadn't seen her bolt out of the house last time, so he didn't know that she had been there, and he had no idea that she had seen him. Him, and Candy. Kissing. Being all cute and married. Allegedly.

He sat at the head of the rectangular table, she sat at the first seat to his right, as close as they could get. It was just dinner. It wasn't a date. Last time she was here she got swept up in the moment, this time she needed to stay focused. She kept reminding herself of that every couple minutes, but they got to chatting and she'd get a whiff of that cologne. They talked about how she was doing and she'd get lost in his eyes. She had come here prepared to hate him if necessary, but he kept smiling at her. Luckily he asked about Craig, snapping her out of it. How romantic.

"Is it true he's got a real shot at being named Groceryman of the Year?"

"He sure seems to think so."

"We just got our adjusted projections, thanks to your little surprise we are going to shatter records this year. Shatter them. He really thinks that he can top our numbers?"