Serein

The drugstore.

As soon as that hellish breakfast was over, I brought my unstable self down to the drugstore. I needed pads and chocolate, it was a woman's most dreadful week of the month unless she happened to be pregnant, which this woman wasn't... Unfortunately.

I had always wanted a child, one I could sing my songs to and rock in my arms as they fell asleep and dreamt with the angels that I would hope do a better job at protecting them than I would. I could only dream of that, though, that was far from now. I'm only 22 and I need to get my life back on track before it's too late...

I gently exhaled after speed walking to the nearest drugstore, slightly worn out already. Pads and caffeine would fix everything, that's all I needed. I had taken Adriel's credit card because I had no money left on me. I made my way inside and a content smile displayed itself across my face at the happy little bell telling the owner that another costumer had come through.

The smile was short term and barely noticeable, soon disappearing while I brought myself to the 'Women's Hygiene' section, every name brand and bright boxing colour being a headache to me. A nice, blank box with the words 'Pads' labeled across it would be sufficient enough. No need for extra.

I reached out to my left to grab a box of 20 pads. As soon as I did so, I felt a pair of eyes on me. Bright, annoying blue eyes. I squinted my own and slowly glared over to the person who I thought was looking at me. Turns out that someone was.

He must've known that I was going to look at him before I did, because when I did he looked back down at whatever product he was going to purchase. He seemed very tall, just almost meeting up with the highest shelf there. His fingers pressed against a label to read it to himself. My eyes flickered back to the box against my chest and I sighed.

'Doesn't matter if he looked at me or not, one look at me tells it all. Thank God he didn't look for long.' I thought to myself. I caught sight of the long line in front of the cash register, groaning because I knew that it was going to be a while before I got home and another argument would rise between me and Adriel.

I hated that man so much. So, so much. It seems like every day with him is torment. I can't walk a certain way, have a certain facial expression, I can't even sigh without him thinking I'm a 'bitch' or that I have a 'disrespectful attitude'. Then he lectures me about how I should appreciate it more, and I try to tell myself that it's just lies he's feeding me but every time I hear it I feel bad and I can't continue with the way I'm acting.

~

It was about half an hour in that damned line before I managed to reach the cashier's tabletop, setting my box down along with snatching up some chocolate and a cranberry Sprite. I set those next to the box. The man didn't even take a glance at my items, ringing them up and telling me the price.

"$15.24, please." His bland voice made me want to slap some creativity into him.

Fuck.

I was only allowed to spend 12 dollars, Adriel knows how much the pads are and now I'd be in twice as much shit...

The man who I saw back in the isle must have saw the look of slight disappoinment on my face. I quickly put the chocolate and the drink back in their respective places before handing the cashier the card and typing in the required pin number. I waited for the receipt as I held the bag with the box in it, receiving it and walking out of the store.

I pursed my lips and looked all outside. The sun cast a faint glare across the window of the antique shop, the contents of the shop glistening. It brought the smile back to my face, I've always loved antiques. Something about the past made me wonder how we'd gotten to the present and what would await for us in the future.

The same blue eyed man came out and I could feel him looking at me with a broken stare. He took about three quick steps towards me, the rest slow and steady.

Panic set in my mind and a slightly stepped away, a scream ready to break the tranquility of the outside. I glanced everywhere I could to see if anyone was there in case I got injured, maybe someone could call the cops. What if he hurt me?! What would he do with me?! Tears set in my eyes as he pulled out something from his pocket, it was probably a gun or a knife or something. Two tears streamed down my cheeks as I began to plead. "I'll give you anything you want, please don't hurt me-" I was cut off as I saw he put a finger to his lips and handed a bar of chocolate to me. The same one I wasn't able to afford. After that came the same Sprite I couldn't get either.

There I was, tears drying on my skin as I stood in awe for about three seconds before I cleared my throat. I smiled awkwardly. "Thanks."

"You're welcome..." The man nodded before flashing a quick smile and rushing back to his car. Shy.

I watched him scurry before opening the wrapper and walking home. The explosion of sweetness that layered on my taste buds was actual heaven.