RED

20. Sweet pea

You don't love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful because you love her.

Anonymous

Enrico picked up a fruit and drew it close to his nose and sniffed. Unable to identify exactly what he needed to, he sniffed it once more and by the third time, the fruit got snatched from his hand much to his surprise. He immediately turned, only to watch Kiana walk past him pushing a trolley as well. A smile formed on his lips as he watched her stop for a moment and take a look at the piece of paper in her hand. Enrico walked forward and only stopped when he was by her side. He watched her look away from the paper for a second, then search around with her eyes for something.

"Aren't we done yet?" He asked, as she stared back down at the paper. Kiana let out a silent sigh without looking up to him.

"As much as I would love to say yes... No." Kiana replied, before folding the paper once more, looking ahead and pushing the trolley forward.

"How long is that list of yours?" Enrico asked, referring to the piece of paper she held in her hand.

"Long enough to satisfy you." Kiana replied, as she picked out a jam from the shelf and moved forward. Enrico slightly furrowed his brows.

"Long enough to satisfy me? What does that even mean? If you haven't noticed, I don't eat much and there are just two of us at that house. If I don't eat much, then you do the maths." Enrico commented and Kiana stood still for a moment controlling her every urge to do something nasty to him. Eventually, she turned to him. A simple smile displayed on his face, as he waited expectantly for a reply from her. She stared at him for what seemed like forever before speaking up.

"Why are you here? Why did you follow me...Ever since we got here, you've been so eager to leave. Fine, let me put you out of your misery. Please go ahead and leave. I'll return on my own once I'm done... Besides, you're ill. You're not supposed to be out. You're supposed to be resting." She explained, hoping he would understand and eventually back away from her, but all he did was stare at her. She stared back with expectations.

Suddenly, he let out a light chuckle before taking out his hands from the kangaroo pockets of his sweatshirt. He flexed his arms by moving his hands back and forth.

"I'm fine. I'm doing better than earlier this morning, so I'll stick with you." Enrico stated, much to her dismay, while he returned his hands to their former hideout.

"I have a better idea. I'll stick around and stay out of your way till when you're done, okay?" He proposed and before she could even think of saying anything else, he walked away.

Kiana let out a loud sigh as she watched him go. If only he could understand exactly what she was trying to do. She had decided on going grocery shopping just to get away from the house, from him for some time, but in the end, he tagged along without her approval. Kiana took a look at the time on her mobile phone. It was getting late. The day was gradually coming to an end. She needed to hurry up, since she was still going to make dinner and head to her part-time job.

Enrico busied himself with walking around, as well as staring at the different food products on display and for sale. The supermarket wasn't as filled as he had expected; just mild looking customers. After what seemed like forever of doing the same routine, he decided to find Kiana. Eventually, he found her just joining the queue towards the counter. He made the payment and they were on their way out of the supermarket.

Kiana let out a sigh of relief as soon as they got into the car and she put on her seat belt, before taking a look at the time on her mobile phone. Gratefully, time was working alongside her, so that made a brief yet simple smile surface on her face. Enrico had noticed her checking her phone and now, a seeming smile appeared on her face. It made him wonder what was going on with her.