"Excuse me, how much does this carton of milk cost?"
A young lady turned around to look at Lisa. She was one of the workers in the supermarket. She wore the same orange T shirt that was used to identify their workers. They went well with her navy blue jeans and sneakers to match.
"All prices are written on the shelves where they were picked" she said it in a robotlike manner . she had probably said the same words to a lot of other customers today.
"oh there they are, thanks."
"Where can I get some green tea?"
"The second aisle on your left" the lady answered.
"Thank you"
She scanned the shelves she needed to get some herbal tea. She liked to take them in the mornings and she was running low. She finally found the brand she liked but there wasn't any price tag.
"How much is this?". She asked the worker that was stationed on this aisle.
"All prices are written on the shelves where they were picked" she said impatiently. This one was not as nice as the lady she had met before.
"I know that, but there isn't any price tag attached to this product" the lady looked at Lisa then stood up reluctantly. She confirmed what Lisa said, she took the box of the tea and took it to the payment section, confirmed the price then brought it back and wrote the price on a piece of paper and added it to the shelf. She apologised for the inconvenience then returned to her station.
After she was done with every thing she had written on her list she decided to go to the payment section out of the corner of her eye. She saw two kids running towards her, they were running so fast she did not have the opportunity to get out of the way. It was a really bad collision all the groceries in her shopping basket were scattered on the ground. She could not even find the basket. It was a mess. She struggled to her feet. The little children, probably a brother and a sister since they looked so much alike. Although the boy seemed just a little bit older than the girl in age. They just stood there giggling.
"Why are you running all over the place" she snapped.
All the smiles on their faces vanished, they looked sober now.
"Where are your parents "she asked
They both pointed at a young man behind them. He was a bit far from them he looked angry from the way he walked briskly toward them. She could not be sure of his facial expression. "Tim, sophie get here now"
He sounded angry.
"How many times have I told you not to leave my sight. When we are outside."
He scanned the surrounding with all the groceries scattered. Judging from their solemn expressions he deduced that they were the one responsible for the mess.
"Did you two do this "he looked at them sternly.
We're sorry uncle Steve
You're both grounded!
I'm sorry ma'am these two can be very naughty at times."
He looked to get a proper look at the woman the kids had ran into.
''Lisa?" he sounded surprised.
"oh my gosh, Stephen?" she said.
"Its been so long" he leaned in for a hug.
"Yeahh, I have not seen you in ages" she replied.
"What have you been up to all these while?" he asked.
"oh just the usual you know, I've been really busy with work and the boys"
"How are the boys doing?"
"Oh they are dong great, Julius and Bolin are so much bigger than he used to be when you last saw him but Binxing is still a crybaby"
"I can see you've been busy" she said glancing at the kids
"Are these your kids?" She asked nervously.
"Not at all, they are my sister's kids, she's in town for a few days so she wanted me to watch her kids for a while."
"Sorry they ran into you" he said
He helped her pick up her scattered groceries from the ground.
She was a little relieved when Stephen had said they were not his kids. They had not seen each other in years but he was her ex-lover. They had some lows but at the moment all she could think about were the highs.
"We should get together sometime" he said
"Definitely" she said
"Can I get your number?" she asked
"I switched phones so I lost a lot of my contacts.
That was not entirely true, she did not have his number anymore, but that was because she had deleted it after they split up. Alongside his pictures, she blocked him on line, and even Instagram. But she did not want to say all that.
"Sure, give me your phone ". He dialed his phone number
"Give me a call" he said as he left.
"see you later"
Binxing and Bolin would be home any minute now she had to hurry home. At the thought of Binxing, she remembered the shoes she had promised to buy. She did not add to her list before since she had lost her job she was trying to be frugal. But now that she had her job back she thought why not just get them now?. She headed over to the shoes section. She wasn't impressed with the quality of shoes although the ones she had checked out were the relatively cheap ones. Then she noticed a very beautiful pair of shoes at the corner of the store . She picked them up and checked the price tag. They were double the price of the regular ones. These were the ones she wanted. But they were so expensive. She thought about how excited it would make her brother. The thought put a smile on her face. She couldn't help herself. She added it to her basket and went to the payment section.
By the time she got home Bolin and binxing were already home. They welcomed her and helped her carry the groceries in.
"How was school today?" She asked them
"It was okay". Bolin said
" had an A on they math assignment I turned in last week".
"Wow that wonderful. Julius was never any good at math I thought I was starting to worry it ran in the family"
"That's just because he was too busy chasing after girls in high school."
Lisa laughed
"You're probably right she said".
What about you Binxing"
"It was great." He answered.
"I've got a present for you" she said.
"For me?" His face lit up. You could see the smile forming at the edges of his lips.
She reached for her bag and pulled out the new pair of shoes.
When he saw the shoes he screamed in excitement. His smiles were so contagious. She was grinning like crazy. This satisfaction she felt, It was definitely worth the cost
" Do you like them?"
" I love them" he squealed without taking his eyes of the shoes.
"Check if they fit" she said as she handed him the shoes. He tried them on hurriedly
"They're perfect"
"That's wonderful,but please be careful with these ones they were really expensive"
"I'll be careful Lisa, I promise"
" Well" she pursed her lips
"If you break that promise, I'll have you go to school barefoot for a week"
He looked a little scared at the thought of going to school barefoot. He was not sure if she was being serious or not.
"I'm hungry " bolin said his hand on his tummy.
"Give me a minute honey, dinner will be ready in no time, I am making your favourite"
"Macaroni and cheese?" he asked, eyes wide with excitement
She nodded back with a smile on her face.
She carried the rest of the groceries in the kitchen and told them to do their homework while she cooked. As she cooked she kept on thinking about her ex boyfriend that she had met at the supermarket. She had not thought about him in years. When they had broken up she had cried her eyes out, even though she was the one who had called it quits. He was sweet and her brothers liked him a lot but he was possesive. In the beginning it wasn't noticeable, so she overlooked it, He would get so jealous whenever she brought up any of her co-workers from work during their conversations then it started getting worse he tried stopping her from visiting her friends, he was always snooping around her whenever she was on a call like he was trying to catch her cheating on him. Then she started getting overwhelmed. When she decided to talk about it with him, she found out his mother left him when he was little. He apologized and promised to do better and she wanted to believe him, she really did, she even tried to be more accommodating towards him. But it only got worse, soon they started quarrelling all the time for the littlest of things she tried talking to Mike about it but Mike never liked him anyway eventually she got fed up, she couldn't live like that anymore, so she broke up with him. It wasn't the most pleasant end to a relationship she thought but it also wasn't the worse and it was so long ago, about three years ago he was probably a better person now. She heard a knock on the door. The sound brought her back to reality.
"Bolin who's at the door?"
Bolin hurried to the door to check who it was, he peeped through the peep hole then hurriedly opened the door.
"Juliusss!" he screamed as he leaned forward to hug his brother,
"Hey kiddo, how was school today? "
"It was great" Bolin said.
Where's Binxing he asked looking around the living room"
"I'm over here ", Binxing said as he rushed into the living room. He had his new shoes on.
"Look what Lisa got me" he said pointing towards the black shoes in his legs
Julius paused for a second
"Wow they're amazing, I never had anything like it "
"That's because you have giant feet" Bolin teased.
"Nothing would fit" he added
Julius shot him a disgruntled look,
"Smartass" he said
Bolin laughed hard; Julius smiled.
"Where is Lisa?" he asked to no one in particular
"In the kitchen, were having Macaroni and cheese today" Binxing said grinning
Julius ruffled his hair
"I know you had something to do with it"
He walked towards the kitchen where he met Lisa
"Hey Julius, how was work today? "
"Heyy, it was alright "
"I noticed Binxing's new shoes, they're really nice by the way" she eyed him warily she could tell where the conversation was headed,
"Yeah, I got them while I was shopping today"
"How much did it cost?" he asked."
"Not so much, they were on sale." she said "perfect time to get them" she twirled her hair idly
"No, they were not"
She looked puzzled "how did you…?"
"Your hair" he laughed. "You always look away and twirl your hair when you lie"
She flushed "fine, they were a bit pricey but I promised I was going to get the kid a new pair"
"I know, but that was before you lost your job, we're broke, remember?"
"I got it back" she said a smile creeping at the edges of her lips
"What do you mean you got it back?"
"My job, I got it back" the excitement becoming evident now
"No way, how did you pull that off?"
She laughed "I have no idea, the CEO called me himself this morning to reinstate me"
"Whoa, was he held hostage?" Julius teased.
"Ha ha very funny" she sarcastically rolled her eyes "apparently he must have figured out there was a mix up when he went to see my manager for the business report"
"What about your manager? isn't she going to be pissed that you got rehired?"
"I hope not, I am thinking she was the one that vouched for me"
Julius snorted "yeah right" he said sarcastically. "From what I have heard the chick hates you, no offence"
"None taken" she laughed lightly then leaned on the fridge
"Then why else would he rehire me" she said gazing into space.
"Maybe he is just nice" he shrugged.
She looked back at him "I doubt it, rich, powerful people are never unnecessarily nice"
"at least not to nobodies anyway"
"You are not a nobody"
"I know that" she chuckled "but I am to him"
Julius sighed "well we do not have to worry about that now, I'm starving" he rubbed his belly
"Congratulations on getting your old job back"
"Well… not exactly" she said
"What do you mean?"
"I'm the secretary now, it's been an empty position since madam Elizabeth passed away last month, he asked me if I wanted it, probably wanted to make up for getting me fired"
"Oh my god that's insane" he said, his eyes wide with surprise
"I know right"
"Do you think if I get myself fired, I could get a promotion too? then I would not have to be on garbage duty anymore." She laughed so hard tears rolled from her eyes
"That explains the new shoe then"
She smirked
"Go sit in living room, dinner will be out in a minute"
He nodded then walked to the living room to sit with his brothers few moments later they had dinner together, shared a lot of laughs before they all retired to their rooms to sleep, as she lay on her bed that night, she couldn't help herself from smiling. It was nice to see everyone happy like that. They still did not have a lot but now that she had her job back, she was confident things would get better. She still had the nagging feeling of uncertainty as she looked to resuming work with Sophia on Monday, but she was not going to let that bother her, at least not today. But she did miss Mike, he had been texting her every day since she had lost her job. She stayed up a little watching funny Tiktok videos then she fell asleep.