Bag of apples, loaf of bread and some milk. Andrea crossed off the items on her list and paid the self service checkout.
Unexpected item in bagging area came the robotic voice. Andrea groaned and thankfully refrained from kicking the machine as she removed her rain jacket from the overly sensitive bagging area.
With a grumble she continued with the checkout routine, collected her change, slipped her jacket back on and headed out into the damp autumn weather. The receipt lay forgotton in the bagging area.
The rain left its mark on her light blue jeans, the denim darkening and sticking to her more with each step. The hair that had escaped from her waterproof hood hung in rats tails on her shoulders. Andrea let out a soft swear with every breath.
Some 10 year olds across the road predictably jeered at her, and she stuck up her middle finger in response. Just like every other day, she thought to herself.
She shook her hair out on entering the apartment block, spraying water droplets everywhere. The lift was broken today, so she had to venture up eight flights of grey stairs. She continued to grumble under her breath as she trailed up the stairs that smelled like pee.
Once Andrea was safe back in her apartment, Cian got up from where he had been doing a jigsaw puzzle on the floor.
"Hi Andy."
Andrea winced at her much hated nickname and mumbled a reply, sorting the shopping out into the kitchen. Cian followed her.
"Did you go shopping?" he asked.
"No, Cian, I went on a nice little holiday to France," she said sarcastically. Her brother blinked, not really getting it. She threw the milk into the fridge.
"But you didn't have any bags with you."
Andrea sighed and dropped the apples on the marble counter. She turned to face him. "I didn't actually go to France, Cian. I was being sarcastic. Okay?"
He nodded like he understood, but she knew he didn't really. She sighed again and turned back to the fridge. She folded up the shopping bag and put the apples away, talking as she worked. "So how was your day Cian? I saw a jigsaw back there, was that fun?"
"Yes," he nodded. "It's Toy Story."
"Yeah?" she walked into the living room and looked down at it. She saw he had put the pieces into their appropriate rows, but not attached them all together yet. That was how he did things, everything was very neat and ordered. She nodded in approval. "It looks good."
He grinned and sat back down in front of it, starting to work again. Andrea sat facing him, mirroring his cross legged position.
"What about mum, Cian? Did she come out today?"
Cian pursed his lips and shook his head. His body began to rock slightly over the puzzle. Andrea gently told him to keep working at it and she crossed the white carpet to her mum's bedroom. She knocked softly and opened the door.
It was a nice room. As a child Andrea had thought of it as a Princess room. This was mostly because of the fancy dressing table against one wall. It was weighed down with perfume bottles, lipsticks, nail polish and hairbrushes. Perfect for a little girl desperate to look grown up.
She remembered when her mother was okay and they played dressing up together. She had expertly done Andrea's makeup and styled her hair, sometimes letting her wear a pair of high heels or a dress. There was a grand reveal when her mother finally let her look at herself in the mirror, looking so different and beautiful.
