Another Reason to Cry

Lies They Sell to You

1994

She smiled brightly at the little girl tugging her along the aisles of the store.

"I want this, mommy!" The girl exclaimed, pointing cheerily with her small fingers to a particularly colourful box of cereal. Jenny indulged her daughter by adding the cereal box to their basket.

"Okay, chica. You can choose one more thing. Cookies or muffins?" Jenny asked, peering down at the little girl. The little girl's eyes widened in eagerness as she made her decision.

"Cookies! I want the chocolate ones!"

Jenny laughed as the girl excitedly pulled her to the dessert mix aisle. The little girl pointed to a box on the top shelf; it contained the mix for double chocolate chip cookies. Jenny frowned when she realised it was a little too high up for her to reach.

"I can't reach it, chica. What about the regular chocolate chips instead?" Immediately, the toddler's bottom lip began to wobble as her eyes filled with tears.

Jenny sighed and looked around the aisle, spotting a man with a backwards ball cap on the other end. He seemed tall enough.

"Sir!" Jenny called out. The man continued to study the tubs of frosting.

Briefly, Jenny glanced back to her daughter, only to find that the toddler wasn't there. As a rising sense of panic began to form, Jenny looked around the aisle hastily, only to watch as her daughter tapped on the man's arm. Jenny sighed in relief before heading over just as Alise introduced herself to the man.

"Chica, you can't run off like that! You had me worried!" Jenny berated the toddler. The little girl only looked up at her with sparkling eyes and a beaming grin.

"This man said he would help us!"

Jenny sighed, putting on a small smile. Just as she went to thank the man, she stopped in her tracks. The smile faltered slightly. It was Axl.

It was obvious that from the moment she had stormed over, he had been watching her. Jenny, averting her eyes from his piercing gaze, cleared her throat.

"Thank you, Axl. You really don't have to." Axl smiled softly, hiding his shock by briefly glancing at the little girl.

"That's alright. Gotta spoil the little ones."

He made quick work of going to the cookie section and getting the double chocolate chip cookie mix.

He handed it over to Alise with a grin.

"Here ya go, sugar." Alise mirrored his grin enthusiastically, thanking him. Axl chuckled at the little girl before glancing to Jenny.

"Cute kid. How old is she?" He asked. Jenny knew he had an ulterior motive for asking about Alise. She sighed, smiling softly to maintain politeness.

"I'm three, almost four!" Alise answered excitedly, turning Axl's attention to her momentarily. When his eyes returned to Jenny's, Axl did nothing to hide his shock. Jenny cleared her throat once more.

"Is she mine?" Axl asked quietly, so that Alise's little ears wouldn't pick up on the adult conversation. Jenny shook her head almost frantically.

"No. She's Dave's," Jenny lied, taking Alise's hand. Axl put a painfully fake smile on his face, which did nothing to hide his disappointment from Jenny. Jenny, however, turned her focus to Alise so she could avoid his sad eyes.

"Oh, ok. I just thought, ya know. She kind of looks like me, but that makes sense." Axl tried to play it off, but it was apparent to Jenny that he was upset. A muscle ticked in his jaw as he ground his teeth. Jenny knew he was restraining himself from saying something awful.

She took Alise's hand, pulling her close. She thought better of lying to him but decided otherwise. Hesitating in her step, Jenny turned to Axl once more.

"It was good to see you again." Then, she walked away, barely missing Axl's ground out words:

"You too."