I Love You, I'm Sorry; Sydney Adamu

009. Snow on the Beach

Wheels of the grocery cart screeched against the concrete floor, and a pair of brown eyes scanned the contents of each aisle. Entirely unsure of what she was even in there for.

Alessia had sent her a very short grocery list, yet Reese found herself wandering through each aisle.

Her boots tapped against the floor and she quietly hummed along to the tune that was playing from the store's speakers.

Reese turned the corner to the next aisle, which just so happened to hold more than half the items on her list.

She opened one of the freezer doors, tossing a box of the pre-made frozen pizzas into her cart. Reese stepped back out of the way and the fridge door closed with a thud.

Halfway down the aisles, a few feet away from her stood Carmen Berzatto. Her eyes landed on him, and despite the rough day she had, a minuscule smile tugged at her lips.

"Carmen!" She called out down the aisle, a bit surprised, he spun around in search of the person who called out his name.

Reese pushed her cart further down the aisle, now much closer to the man.

"Uh, hi," he greeted, confusion still swimming in his eyes. Carmen then snapped his fingers, the puzzle pieces falling into place, "You're Alessia's roommate."

Reese nodded, sticking out her hand, "Therese, most people call me Reese, though."

Despite the fact that the two had met before, Carmen's calloused hand still closed around her's. His eyes flickered to her grocery cart, and a smile pulled at the ends of his lips.

"Let me guess," he reached for the box of frozen pizzas, "My sister's list?"

Reese nodded with a small laugh, "Yeah, for a chef, like ninety percent of what she eats is prepared and frozen."

Carmen nodded with a smile, "It's not unusual, when you spend all day, everyday in the kitchen."

"Speaking of your sister, her birthday is coming up," Reese noted.

Carmen hummed in reply, opening one of the freezers and setting a box into his basket.

"I was thinking about throwing a surprise little get together with her friends and family," Reese spoke, "The thing is I don't really know any of those people so it's like kinda hard for me to plan."

Carmen shook his head, "You know...she really doesn't like her birthday. I'm not entirely sure a party is a good idea."

"I—I know but it's not going to be like a party...just a small thing with the people she likes to spend time with." Reese defended, leaning on her cart.

Carmen sighed, he had a bad feeling that this wasn't going to go over well, but something about Reese made him want to agree to help.

"I guess I can put you in contact with some people," he sighed, leaning against one of the freezer doors.

Reese smiled, "Great! Here," she handed him her phone, so that he could punch in his number. So, he did.

"See you around, Carmen."

"Yeah, sure." He nodded, and then turned around continuing to shop from his list. Reese could not help the smile that remained plastered on her face after the brief interaction.

Alessia walked forward, sliding sunglasses onto her face. She reached down picking up a box to load into the trunk.

"I really don't understand why you two can't do this by yourselves," she noted with a sigh.

"Because, Cousin. It's a kid's party. We need all the help we can get," Richie noted, as he stretched out an "Original Beef" t-shirt, attempting to place it on the inflatable hot dog.

"Why are you doing that?" Carmen asked, causing Richie to briefly pause in his movements.

"What?"

"Why are you trying to put a t-shirt on a fucking hot-dog?" Carmen spoke, his eyebrows knitted together.

"Kids love hot-dogs, dumbass."

Carmen set down the plastic container, "I know, that's why we're making 'em fucking hot dogs, dumbass."

"Yeah exactly, Cousin. It's a tie in. This shit is exposure, baby!"

"I don't need you exposing anything."

Alessia sighed, "Please tell me you guys are not about to start arguing over a fucking inflatable hot dog."

Richie scoffed, "It's a fucking hot dog in a beef t-shirt. That shit is hilarious."

"Go grab me some propane," Carmen instructed.

When Richie didn't respond right away, Alessia spoke up, "I'll go get the propane."

When Alessia resurfaced from the restaurant, the two were physically fighting over the inflatable hot dog, she rolled her eyes.

"You two are such idiots."

"Ah, fuck!" Richie shouted, as air began to escape the inflatable.

Tina lifted the lid to the dumpster, tossing a trash bag in, "Morning, guys," he eyes flickered over to Alessia, "Melissa."

"Tina, my name isn't—" Alessia started but the woman was already gonna, "and she's gone."

"Look what you did. You fucking baby," Richie half-pouted at the sight of the now-popped inflatable hot dog.

"Alright, I'm gonna get the spare from the basement," Richie noted, already beginning to walk away.

"You're telling me this place had not one but two inflatable hot dogs?" Alessia asked, and Richie shook his head.

"Actually cousin, we have—had three."

Alessia unfortunately had lost out on the passenger seat, she was unaware that she would have to call shot gun at her very adult age to get that honor.

So, she remained stuffed in the backseat between various catering related items. Richie's eyes had been glued to his phone as he obnoxiously watched whatever videos he found amusing, and Carmen was focused on driving.

"Yo, why the fuck are you on the Kennedy?" Richie exclaimed.

Alessia's eyebrows remained raised as she peered around Carmen's chair in search of the maps. The Berzatto man's eyebrows knitted together as his eyes flickered between Richie and the road.

"Chill the fuck out. Cicero lives in Naperville."

Alessia shook her head, "Uh—not anymore..." the girl's voice trailed off.

Richie scoffed, "Fucking—Cicero's in Wilmette now...you gotta get on the fuckin' Edens—"

"Shit, no, no that's right. That's right, that's my bad." Carmen sighed.

Richie picked his phone back up, "It's all good though, I'm in no hurry to see that motherfucker."

Richie turned in his chair, facing both of the Berzatto siblings, "I swear to god, cousin, if he calls me 'Rick' I'm gonna fucking lose it."

"While I would pay to see that, we quite literally can not afford that," Alessia muttered.

"Cousin, listen, do me a favor ok?" Carmen started, "I'm trying to get us out of this hole, alright?  I want today to go smooth. Please do not bring that shit up."

"Chill," Richie said, "I'm not going bring shit up, alright?"

Alessia sighed, running a hand through her hair, "Somehow I find that very hard to believe."

Richie spun around in his chair, "Cousin, I swear you have zero faith in me."

A soft scoff fell from her lips, "Yeah, okay."