Forgotten memories- mileven future fic

The shopping trip

Today was the official presentation of Mike's new comic book. He had to leave early in the morning to go meet some people whose identities I didn't catch. He said their names, like I was supposed to know them (he was so excited, he couldn't stop smiling), and then, dressed in a nice, blue shirt and black jeans, he left in a hurry. 

I decided to take Harper to the supermarket. The list on the fridge had grown longer and it was time to buy some groceries. So, I dressed Harper in a cute, yellow dress, which she picked herself from her wardrobe, and a pair of brown, little shoes. She was lovely.

I took the elevator to the garage floor and then, with Harper on my arms, I made my way to my car. It was black and it had the company's name on the back, Work-it-out There was a special seat for Harper. I helped her get her seat bell, which was something very exciting to her. Turned out, she loved being in a moving car. She looked out of the window with this amazed look that made me smile. She talked about the people, the dogs she saw, everything.

This trip to the supermarket was a way to get to know little Harper better. I might not be the real version of her mother, but she didn't know that. And she was a lovely kid, who I didn't mind learning more about. It was also a way to understand how my life here was. How I interact with people outside and inside my little family. Harper was important. And she was a safe place. She was so young she didn't see the world like sad-and overwhelmed-by-life adults did. She was pure and somehow that could help me be at peace with what was happening to me.

I put her inside a shopping cart. I tried to sit her in the small, metal seat, but she refused, wanting to stand up in the cart. I found out that it helped her grab things and join them to our groceries; things like cookies, and chocolate. She had a sweet tooth. I could relate to that.

We were in the fruit aisle, picking up some oranges and bananas. Harper was sneakily eating a grape that she took from one of the bunches. I gave her a small glance and she giggled. That's when I saw him. Tall, blonde with the cockiest smirk I had ever seen. Thomas smith had been that guy at my first college party that I had set my eyes on and thought: yup, I need to kiss him at least once.

Last time I had ever been this close to him was during a study session among Film Studies students. He had showed up late, with that stupid smirk on his face, and sat down next to me like everything was totally okay between us. It wasn't. Not since he had spread around the campus the stupid, completely untrue story that we had messed around in a bathroom. Dick. Yet, one of the hottest guys I had ever seen.

God, El, behave yourself. You're not twenty here.

Thomas saw me, blinked in surprise and then walked up to me with a smirk on his face. "Elizabeth, hello." He never got around the idea of calling me Elle, He had always preferred Elizabeth

"Hello, Thomas. Long time no see," I said, assuming that what I was saying was accurate. Harper looked at him with her mouth opened and confused.

"True, true," he replied chuckling. "This is Harper?"

I blinked. "Yes," I said. How did he know my daughter's name?

"I've seen pictures of her on Adams Facebook. Never seen you, though. How is life treating you?"

"Great."

"Still with Mike?"

I was again surprised with his knowledge of my life. Had he met Mike? In what sort of occasion could they have met?

"Of course," I said somehow proudly. He chuckled. "What about you?"

"Still living the dream." He had this smug smirk on his face that I wanted to rip off. "I'm a producer."

I tried not to snort. Right. Like I would buy that.

"Congrats," I wished with a forced smile. Harper tried to steal another grape. I stopped her this time and said to Thomas, "Well, good to see you, Thomas."

"Bye, Elizabeth," he said with that stupid smirk that had once made me want to kiss him badly. "See you around."

Yeah right I would see him around.

I pushed the shopping cart around him and walked away, turning to the aisle on the left. It was the wine section. I just kept going.

Harper asked who that man was, of course. I said an old friend, while scanning the aisle

Why old?" She asked me.

I sighed. I told her, "Well, life tends to make people grow up, Harper, Some don't. That's why he is an old friend."

She seemed confused with my answer.

El, honestly, don't make all men be dicks because most of them are, I heard Violet's voice tell me, after I came home furious at the people who were talking about me behind my back. Oh, some of them did have the guts to tell me in the face that I was a total slut. Like, excuse me, but one, it was my body; two, I did whatever I wanted; and three, neverminding the fact that they shouldn't be calling that name, they were doing it because of a lie. And that made me so angry.

But no, I didn't see all men like dicks. My dad hadn't been one. Neither was adam. But Thomas Smith was and, after what he had done, I craved some kind of revenge badly. That was the only thing I thought about for weeks, until Adam and Violet took me on a small two-days trip and had we had a blast. It made me forget everything

"Mommy, mommy," Harper called. We were in the supermarket line, our groceries already checked. I just froze for a moment, thinking about the life I had been living, my real life, not this alternative place, and I totally forgot where I was. I paid in cash, got my change and took Harper and two bags of groceries with me to the car.

I got one last glance of Thomas, getting into his car a few parking spots away from mine. I shook my head and then drove away from there. I knew my way around this part of the city since the house I shared with Mike in this life was so close to where I used to live in my years of college. I even passed my old street on my way home. I took a quick peep at the flat that just a week and half ago I had been sharing with Adam and Violet. I also saw the park where I seen my  special spot,I had a small memorial to my dad, beside a tree. I had to go there some day. Not today since Mike needed my presence. And, although I only knew him for a few days, I wanted him to know that I was really happy for his career. The other Elle, the one married to him, certainly was.

I wondered if she was living my life, since I was living hers. How weird would it be, waking up and being twenty again? Not having Mike and Harper with her... Maybe she felt lost without them.

I looked at Harper through the mirror in the car. She was mumbling the song that was on the radio.

"Are you happy?" I asked the three-year-old. I was an idiot sometimes.

Mae looked at me, frowned in confusion, and then giggled. "Silly mommy."

Yeah, silly me.