The Appointment

"Kate?"

Silence.

"Hello? Kate? Are you there?" asked Kate's husband.

"Ye-yeah," Kate swallowed. "I'm still here."

"What's wrong? Where are you?"

"Nothing?" she said. "I just walked into Publix." Kate stood in the potted-poinsettia-lined entrance with her cart.

"Well then, how did the appointment go?"

"It went well." It hadn't. "I'm glad I went. Listen, I forgot the grocery list."

"Oh, no problem. We should celebrate tonight, maybe pick up some champagne? Well, maybe not. I suppose you could have just one glass to celebrate. That is, if you wanted–"

"Okay, okay," she said, "but do you remember the list? I'm here now and I can't remember–" A little boy chased a screaming little girl, elf doll-in-hand, past her in a game of grocery-store-tag "and it's...loud and I want to go home."

"Ooh, of course dear. I should've done the shopping myself, I'm sorry sweetheart. Here, can you write this down?"

"Uhm, hold on a minute." She sifted through her purse. "Yes, go ahead."

"Well, you said you were craving my rosemary chicken, so you'll need to get two pounds of Perdue chicken breasts, two to three yellow onions, olive oil, garlic, garlic powder, butter, oh and rosemary, of course!"

"Okay, good, thank you. Wasn't there something else?"

"Yes, Caesar stuff. Don't forget cat litter too, and eggs," he added.

Kate started walking to the pet aisle towards the far left end of the store. "Okay, thanks, hun. I'm gonna let you go so I can get out of here."

"Okay, baby, love you."

"Love you too."

Kate stood in the middle of the pet aisle between metal laser pointer keychains and chicken flavor Purina Dog Chow. She walked ahead of her cart and picked up a bag of dry dog food from the top shelf and stared at it in her arms for a long moment.

"Do you need any help, Ma'am?" asked a store clerk.

"Oh, no, no. I don't have a dog..." Kate said, looking back down at the brown and white chihuahua staring up at her from her hands.

"Uh, okay...Let me know if you need anything," he said.

"Okay..." she said, placing the bag back on the shelf and looking around the aisle when she heard the middle of "Baby Can I hold You" by Tracy Chapman playing across the speakers.

She wandered farther into the cat section. "Cat litter!" she gasped and tossed a bag of Publix brand, unscented cat litter into her cart.

On her way towards the refrigerated section she noticed the eggs in the fridge to her left. Kate grabbed a plastic GreenWise container of a dozen cage-free, large brown eggs. She opened the layers of plastic to look for breaks. Meanwhile, the little tornado of a boy from earlier came zooming by screaming a high-pitched "Mama, wait!" Just as an elderly man strolled out of the pet aisle, his cart blocking the boy's path. The boy crashed into Kate, knocking her forward and running off without an apology. The eggs were now shattered and yolk was dripping down the front of Kate's lilac blouse.

The boy's mom had witnessed her son's accident and rushed over with her daughter in her cart and her son hiding behind her. "Oh my goodness! Are you okay? I'm so sorry, he's just like his father, so rambunctious. It's the ADHD, I assure you. I'm still trying to work on his manners, though. Is there anything I can do? I can go with you to the bathroom and help you clean up."

"Urm, no. No thank you," Kate replied.

"Please let me help you, or even buy your groceries, it's the least I can do."

"Please just leave me alone."

The mother walked away with her kids. Kate left her cat litter-filled cart, walked down the frozen-pizza-breakfast-dessert-beer aisle and grabbed a six pack of glass bottled original Yuengling on her way to the self-checkout. Her phone rang and rang and rang and she let it. She assumed it was Vincent and he'd talk to her soon enough. She paid her $11.60 and walked out the first set of automatic doors. Her store-clerk friend, Karen, smiled and waved her out as per their usual but Kate patted the air behind her with her raised arm in a fleeing response. Dr. Harris had pushed a box of tissues across his desk at the end of her appointment but Kate hadn't cried until now, standing in the exit of Publix facing the Christmas-decorated palm trees in the parking lot, in everybody's way, six-pack-in-hand.