In a world of your own staring at the laundry detergent in the cleaning aisle of Tesco you were trying to work out which product was the best value for money. Your mundane weekend activity had numbed your brain not realising how long you'd been staring at the prices and day dreaming that you were somewhere sunny. That was until someone brushed past you to get what they wanted and dragged you back down to earth. Exhausted from the decision, you grabbed whatever looked good and shoved it into your trolley then moved robotically to the freezer aisle - meals for one, they sure know how to make a girl feel good about herself!
*Attention shoppers, we are closing in 10 minutes, please make your way to the checkouts* - came over the tannoy and filled your bones with dread. You barely had five items off your long shopping list in the trolley and now you had to leave. Rushing around to grab the essentials then getting into the queue, eyes barely open and longing to be back on your sofa. Loading your shopping onto the conveyor belt you hurried to place the next person slide out for whoever was behind you. "Thanks, nice shirt by the way" the female voice said. "Thaaanks" your word dragged out as you glanced down to see what you'd thrown on to leave the house today, seeing it was your Aston Villa shirt you decided to strike up a conversation, "you a villains fan too?" you said turning around so your back wasn't facing them. "Kinda" the woman said as she delved into the bottom of her trolley, jealous of how much shopping she had compared to your ready meals and fabric softener. As she turned back to place her items behind yours "f-fuck me!" you said slightly too loud as people around you glanced in your direction. A one sided smile lit up her face for a second as the realisation hit. "You're Jordan! As in the-name-on-my-back Nobbs?" you stumbled over your words while turning around to point at your back. It all makes sense now why she said your shirt was nice. "You've got good taste!" she laughed, "maybe not in meals though, they look sad" she screwed up her face looking at your frozen box meals. "Oh, yeah I lead a very busy life" trying to play it cool but the facade betrayed you. "Is that right?" she smirked. "No that's a lie, I can't cook to save my life" your head bowed, feeling incredibly small as she loaded the belt with actual ingredients rather than something you can shove in a freezer. "Me neither, but I'm trying to learn" the blonde seemed excited about her current venture. "Well yours looks like it's going to better than mine" you chuckled softly with embarrassment. "I can cook enough for two if you fancy? I need a trial taster". Your eyebrows furrowed trying to work out if she was serious and said you better go home to put your groceries away, you couldn't have your meals defrosting.
"Eh-hem" the interruption came from the cashier who just wanted to go home and didn't have time to listen to you chat any longer. Hurriedly packing your bags so you could pay and move along, as you tapped your phone on the card reader Jordan passed you her number "come as you are" she smiled "see you in about an hour?" Looking at the piece of paper in disbelief you nodded and smiled cautiously as you made your way to the car.
"Well this is awkward!" the same voice called from behind as you loaded your car boot. "Nothing like saying bye to someone then walking in the same direction!" Of course she'd parked next to you, seeing your beat up, run down car that was in desperate need of a wash next to her pristine BMW. Knowing you were going to have to think of something quickly to prolong getting in your car, it was a state inside and out and definitely not going to help your case of convincing her you're not always a slob, things had just gotten away from your lately.
At home you were still unsure about what actually happened in Tesco, was she being serious, is this really Jordan Nobb's number? Typing it into your phone, watching your thumbs refuse to move and when they did it was to delete what you'd already written. This went on for twenty minutes - writing, deleting, rewriting, deleting until you settled for a simple "hi 😊" before immediately panicking and sending another without totally thinking it through "it's sad meal girl btw 😂". Waiting impatiently for a reply you'd convinced yourself she'd given you a fake number. Fetching one of your meals out the freezer and setting the microwave timer then reaching for the cheap bottle of wine in your fridge.
Your phone pinged before the microwave did, rushing to pick it up to see she'd sent a pin of her address. Switching the microwave off and grabbing the bottle of wine you quickly changed your top, pulled on a coat and headed out the front door, opting to walk rather than take your rubbish filled car. Surprised she lived only a short walk away you wondered how you'd never spotted her in your town before.
"Hey, can I take your coat?" Jordan said as soon as she opened the door, nodding and removing it from your shoulders. "Something smells amazing, do you need any help?" you asked, following her towards the kitchen. Glancing at the menu on her phone she came up with something for you to do. "Err, you could chop the veggies for me, how are you with onions?" You chuckled to yourself, excited to finally try the hack you saw on tiktok once and asked for a saucepan lid, tucking it into your hood. Jordan couldn't contain her laughter when she spotted what you were doing but congratulated you on the initiative.
"I bought wine, it's pretty cheap though" you said behind your glass mask meaning Jordan didn't hear and you had to repeat yourself. "We can just mix it with lemonade it'll make it taste better" she said getting two glasses out of the cupboard.
Helping you put your coat on she opened the door to see your car wasn't on the driveway. It was 2am by the time you two had stopped talking; she refused to let you walk home alone and demanded she drive you. Pulling up outside your flat you said your goodbyes, "we should do this again some time, you have my number now" Jordan smiled. You said thank you for the lovely yet surprising evening and made your way to your door. Waiting for you to be safely inside your house, you waved goodbye as you watched her drive away. This had been one of the best days you'd had in a very long time, you were in desperate need of something magical to happen and who knew it would come in the form of Jordan.
