In Writ & Lust (In Progress)

7 Soy Much Trouble

The store was full of Friday shoppers and Lennon mentally kicked herself for not planning her week better. She had scheduled Kent’s birthday party for the following day, reserving the local skating rink for his first friends-over party; but, had become so focused on writing that she hadn’t realized it was already upon her.

This was the first time she’d arranged a party that was going to host both family and school friends, and the pressure hit her hard when she saw the words Birthday Party in her phone calendar the night before. To top it off, she always made their cakes and had promised she would still do it, despite the size of the group.

Trying not to panic, she managed the morning in auto drive as she listed in her head what she absolutely needed to accomplish that day. By the time she’d kissed them good-bye and watched them climb on the bus she felt mentally organized, calming some of the anxiety.

First thing on the list was the cake, and immediately worked on gathering all the ingredients to make a vegan cake – her parents planned to come – from scratch. Everything was displayed on the counter before her when she felt the urge to check the quantity before she even started:  There wasn’t enough soy milk or raw, organic sugar.

So, less than an hour later she found herself pushing through the Friday crowd. She double checked the list, which she’d added to before she’d left, against the items in her cart. She had everything on it except the soy milk. She meandered through people, carts, and aisles until she found the organic, no GMO, soy milk. On the top shelf.

She suppressed a groan when she saw the empty shelf, stepping back to see if there was at least one carton tucked towards the back. Luckily, there was; but, her arm wasn’t long enough to reach it. She debated jumping and trying to knock it down or standing on the bottom shelf for a better reach, but thought better of both options. Looking around she noticed a guy near her, tall enough to reach it, and decided to ask for his help.

“Excuse me,” she approached him, “can you help me?”

He turned at the sound of her voice, his face lighting up when he recognized her,

“Lennon. Hi.”

“Oh, hi Trevor. I need some help.”

“Laundry again?”

“No,” she gave a light laugh, “I can’t reach the soy milk.” He walked with her the few steps back to her cart, she pointed to the lonely carton all the way in the back of the top shelf.

“No problem,” he didn’t give her time to move as he stepped close to her, reached up to grab the last carton. He smelled cool, refreshing, like the mountain breeze laundry soap she bought but was always disappointed because the clothes never really smelled like what was in the jug.

She quickly took a step back, the handle of her cart pressed into her back with the change in position. She averted her eyes from his body, which currently looked longer as he stretched to reach the milk, averting her eyes to the contents of his basket. She was impressed to see mostly fresh fruits and vegetables. And, a six pack of beer.

“I’m not much of a cook,” he stated, extending the soy milk, catching her look over his food choices. She blushed at having been so nosy.

“I could teach you a few easy dishes,” she heard herself say.

“I’d like that,” he replied, still extending the milk. Her eyes locked with his as she accepted it and he smiled at her. His fingers brushed hers as he released it. She caught her breath at the subtle touch.

“Thanks,” she said, her voice thick and barely above a whisper. She cleared her throat, “Well, I need to get going. I have a long list of things I need to do today.”