You, Me, and the Stories Around Us

A Lovely Feeling

--- Start of Chapter ---

"Excuse me," I said as my hand touched the shoulders of the woman in front of me. As expected, the reaction was that of her turning around and looking at me.

"Yes?" She responded, all the while having a smile similar to those salesmen (or women, too?) who would be more than ready to invite you to their shady stores only for you to realize that they actually had some interesting stuff somewhere within the mess (only only for you to realize it was only a gimmick of their skillful talk).

Anyway, I smiled and asked her, "Where can I find raw crabs? Or maybe some lobsters?"

"On the second floor, Sir. Fish, shrimps, crabs, and other kinds of seafood are placed on the 2nd floor, by the 3rd division."

"Is that so? Thank you, then."

"No problem, Sir." She ended with a light bow before continuing her task---which was arranging boxes of milk on the shelf.

(Am I really that old to be called a "Sir" now...? That kinda hurt a bit, not gonna lie...)

A sigh left my mouth as I kept pushing the shopping cart before me, going toward the stairless escalator.

While I was doing that, my phone suddenly vibrated, notifying me of an incoming call. Not worrying about how a mere phone call would disturb my pace, I grabbed it from my pocket and answered it without looking at the contact's name. Based on the ringtone alone, I already knew who was calling, after all.

"Moshi moshi?" I said, right after putting my phone beside my left ear.

"はいはい、これはあなたの特別な人が話しています、" was what I heard a second later.

"...wat."

I was so surprised that I stopped pushing the cart, right before it stepped onto the escalator too. But hearing my reaction, the person on the other side of the phone giggled.

"Did that surprise you?" She asked, with an amused tone.

As expected... she was messing with me.

A sigh left my mouth, "Obviously? I mean, we're supposed to be talking in English considering most of the readers (presumably) don't understand Japanese, you know? Why'd you hit me with that sudden language shock?" I commented, before followed by another sigh.

"Fufufu, wouldn't it be fun once in a while?"

"Well... sure. As long as you're having fun, anything could be fun for me too."

"Oh my? How sweet... Who taught you to speak like that?"

"Hmm, I wonder who?"

As I smiled cheekily, the sound of her giggle reached my ear. Ah, right, I also continued pushing my cart toward the escalator, and now, I was slowly going up.

After a moment of calmness, she asked, "So, how are things there?"

"I'm still searching for that crab, lobster, or whatever seafood you asked me," I answered while pushing my cart yet again as we had arrived on the end of the escalator, on the 2nd floor. "But, hey, it got me curious. Why the sudden request?"

"Fufufu, do you really want to know?"

"Well, yeah? Is it wrong for me if I try to find out?"

"Not really, but it'll ruin the surprise."

"Oya? Surprise, eh?"

"Oops, slip of tongue. Would you kindly forget what I said?"

"Hmm... I think that'll prove to be a little tad bit difficult. I'm a sucker for surprises, after all. How can I easily---"