(18+) Florilegium: A DeVanté Swing Collection

Resurrection | 4

June 2, 2024

DeLane pulled out a shopping cart. As he began walking around the store, his cell phone rang. He pulled out his cell phone and saw his brother's name on the screen.

"Nigga, what the fuck you want?" DeLane aggressively asked his brother.

Since the day after their party, Loyal keeps making erectile dysfunction jokes and DeLane is irritated by them. Loyal laughed loudly in DeLane's ear at his tone and irritation in general. DeLane hung up the phone and put it in the buggy's phone holder. DeLane began looking for the needed items on his handwritten list in a notebook. He began looking around for the items inside the store. He noticed that many pairs of eyes were staring in his direction. Again, he frowned and rushed into an aisle and from out of the open. Upon entering the aisle, he crashed into a person, smashing her between their buggy and his buggy. He quickly pulled his cart back towards himself.

"Oh shit!" DeLane's eyes widened in disbelief. "Ma'am, I'm so sorry. I was- I was- ma'am, I apologize. Um, is there anything I can do?"

Jade turned around to face the man who just hit her at full speed with his cart. "It's okay. Please just make sure you're paying attention to where you're going next time?" Jade politely and calmly asked the man as he walked closer.

"Maybe I could pay for your groceries in return? I promise you, hitting you was a complete mistake. People were staring, I got weirded out, and rushed away without paying attention," he told her, feeling the need to explain himself.

They weren't staring at DeLane, they were staring at Jade who was entering the same aisle. She has been in the news. It's pretty normal for people to be curious. DeLane isn't interested in watching the news. It's too depressing. That type of stuff doesn't even pop up on his social media feed because it doesn't match his algorithm.

Being that Jade has no job, she can't earn any money. All she has is the money in her bank account. In fact, Jade is supposed to be purchasing the needed items with Brandon's money. After all, she'll mostly be purchasing food they'll both be eating. That and some feminine hygiene items.

"Are you sure you can do that? I mean, I still have more items to get," she gestured inside of her buggy.

DeLane squinted his eyes at Jade, "You know, you've got this familiar look. Have I seen you anywhere?" He inquired.

"Um..." Jade shook her head from side to side. "No, I've never seen your face before. Trust me, I'd definitely remember a face like yours."

"Gee... I don't know whether or not to feel offended..." DeLane trailed off. "I couldn't read your tone."

"Don't!" Jade chuckled. "I didn't mean it that way."

"Oh, then thanks?" He spoke as if it were a question.

"You're weird with compliments," Jade chuckled.

"Oh, no," DeLane shook his head at her. "I get them all of the time. It's just- I don't even know. So... Do you have kids?" He said eyeing the amount of groceries in her cart and thinking of how she said she needed more.

"Ooh, God no," she snickered.

"Just you?"

"And my brother," Jade added.