Yellow Lines

Chapter 5 - Confusion

My eyes darted from the woman to Jerry and then his cart which had all sorts of things in there—from cereal to beans, to bread, and other personal sanitary items.

I huffed.

Making an about-turn, I casually walked towards the stock of apples, placed the one in my hand back on the rack, grabbed two pears, and shoved the trolley down the aisle. I grabbed what I could in the next lane and headed straight to the cashier.

Three minutes passed and the line couldn't be any slower. The last thing I wanted was to see Jerry and that chick again. I needed to leave. But a lady and her daughter—possibly four years old—stood aimlessly in front of me. The daughter kept screaming and crying because she couldn't have the candy stick on the nearby shelf. She stomped her feet and flared her hands like a maniac while her mom calmly shushed her.

I groaned. The mother was getting nowhere with this and I had no time to wait. "Excuse me?" I tapped the lady's shoulder. "Can you please checkout your items? There is a long line behind." I surprised myself when I sounded nicer than I intended.

"I beg your pardon?" the woman responded. "You are quite rude and disrespectful."

I tilted my head. "And so is your child. Now, excuse me, I have other things to do than wait until your unruly child calms down." I pushed past the lady, tugging my cart behind me.

She gasped and I dug into my cart, setting my box of cereal on the conveyor belt.

As I wheeled my cart out, I spotted Jerry and his girl standing in the same line. The nerve of him.

My taxi was on its way, but I couldn't tell how soon. I sure wished it would come now.

And speaking of now, Jerry and his madam exited the supermarket. They walked past me and Jerry didn't have the nerve to say hi. I squinted. I shouldn't feel bitter, but seeing him with her made me ill. And then when he opened the door of his blue Audi R8 and let her in, I had to shake my head. Did she even know he'd been at my apartment? Did she know he'd been entertaining me? Men. Always acting like the perfect boyfriend when they were the devil in disguise.

He closed her door and started towards me.

Crap! I turned away when his eyes met mine. Where was the taxi?

Then by some miracle, it approached, clearing the bend. Talk about perfect timing.

I didn't know if it was me, but it seemed as if Jerry was darting through the parking lot, side-stepping cars—

"Leila!"

As soon as the taxi stopped in front of me, I lifted the trunk and flung my groceries as fast as I could. I hustled into the passenger seat and slammed the door. "Drive, driver, drive," I screamed, seeing Jerry nearing the window.

The taxi driver turned back, "What—"

"Drive, damn it."

The guy hit the gas, throwing me against the seat. I looked back and saw Jerry standing in the roadway, his hands atop his head.

What did he want from me when he clearly had a girlfriend or wife or whatever? He'd passed me straight while walking with her, so why bother?

"Running from someone?" the driver asked.

"You should mind your damn business and drive."

"Sorry, ma'am."

Pregnant? How could he leave out that detail when he was with me?

By the time I finished putting away the groceries, it was after three in the afternoon. I had a few missed calls from Cara earlier, so I decided to call her back.