Chapter 14: Chapter 14: "the frown that I was sporting earlier because of my mother's surprise turned into a small smile"
"What would you like for dinner tonight?" I asked as Ansel and I entered the supermarket. It was the nearest supermarket near our apartment, and we were lucky that we arrived before its closing time.
"Something easy to cook, I guess?" Ansel replied as we went towards where the pushcarts were located. Ansel got one for us, and we went straight to the frozen foods aisle. The supermarket will close in less than half an hour, therefore, we have to hasten our grocery shopping.
"Are you suggesting another instant food again?" I frowned at his reply. Ansel was pushing the cart for us, and I was walking beside him, browsing for dinner options at the large freezers. There was a wide variety of selection of frozen meals, but I wanted to cook a proper meal for both of us since I have not been cooking at home lately, and I don't think heating a frozen pasta can be considered as cooking.
As I was busy browsing through the large freezers, Ansel suddenly pulled me by the waist. I could feel my back flushed against his chest as he whispered to my ear, "I have my dinner here."
I blushed profusely at what he said, and I immediately looked sideways to check if there are people around us, and fortunately, the aisle was deserted. I lightly slapped his hand that was wrapped around my waist and turned around to face him.
"We're in a public place," I frowned at him, yet the frown didn't last as once again, he pulled me towards him. He bent downwards and pressed his forehead onto mine, our lips merely inches apart.
"There is no one here," he whispered. His husky voice was enthralling, and I instinctively shifted my gaze towards his lips.
Perhaps noticing where my gaze was directed, he lightly pressed his lips against mine in a quick kiss, and before I could react, he immediately pulled away.
"We should continue with our shopping. I'm hungry," Ansel said with a playful smirk on his lips and began pushing the cart away from me.
I was rooted to the ground because of his public display of affection, although there was no one around us. I started following him when I came to, almost running. When I reached him, I slapped his arm, making him turn to look at me with his eyes filled with amusement.
"You're so sly," I said and rolled my eyes at him.
He merely chuckled at my reaction. He then placed his arm around my shoulder while we were walking down the grocery aisle. "I think I want to eat curry tonight," Ansel said.
"I've been craving for some curry for a while now," I beamed at his suggestion and continued, "my co-worker suggested a brand of curry roux and I've been meaning to try it."
***
I groaned when I was suddenly reminded of a memory from the past. I was merely walking around the supermarket with the list that my mother left earlier when nostalgia unexpectedly smacked me in the face.
Two days passed by quickly as I buried myself with work. I had a lot to coordinate with our office in Japan, and other tasks are also needed to be finished for our other clients. Since our company is still starting off, we currently don't have a lot of staff, hence Luke and I mostly burden ourselves with plenty of work.
Luke had been telling me for the past few days to ease off with work, but I think I'd drown myself with my thoughts if I don't distract myself from it.
And once again, I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning working, and when my mother came to my room this morning to give me a list of ingredients and other stuff that I needed to buy, I thought I was dreaming.
Ansel sent a message to my mother yesterday morning that he would be available tonight. She was ecstatic when she got the message and began asking me for suggestions on what to cook for tonight's dinner. I was too preoccupied with uneasiness because of the said dinner to answer her and merely suggested the first thing that came to my mind.
My mother then told me that since she has to open the restaurant today, she would not be able to buy the ingredients for dinner, hence she asked me if I could do the grocery shopping for her. I agreed to her request and told her to write a comprehensive list of the items including the brand that she preferred so that she would not nag me for getting the wrong items.
When I woke up at around lunchtime, I immediately saw the said list left by my mother on the bedside table. Upon checking the list, I saw that there were too many items written to go to the convenience store, hence, I decided to go to the nearest supermarket.
When I entered the supermarket earlier, I was immediately engulfed with nostalgia as this was the very same place that Ansel and I used to go when we were married. This supermarket was also the nearest to our apartment back then, and the prices were also considerably cheaper compared to other stores, hence I preferred shopping here.
Presently, as I push the cart, I began to tick off items from my mother's list. Since it is a Sunday, there are quite a lot of people inside the supermarket, making it harder to navigate around it.
I checked my wristwatch and found that it is already two in the afternoon. My mother closes her restaurant at 2 PM on Sundays, and if she arrives home and finds out that I'm still not finished buying the ingredients for tonight's dinner, I would probably never hear the end of it.
Once I arrived at the canned goods aisle, I checked my list to see if there was anything I needed to get from this aisle. I began reaching out for the items written on the list like tomato sauce and paste when I suddenly heard my phone ringing. I reached for my phone from the pocket of my jeans and saw my mother's name on the screen.
"Hello?" I spoke after pressing the answer button.
"Where are you?" My mother asked from the other line.
"Still at the supermarket," I replied and checked the list for other stuff I needed to get from this aisle.
I started thinking of excuses to say if my mother started nagging me about how slow I am with grocery shopping. Knowing her and how excited she is about this dinner, she would want to start cooking after arriving home. "I think I will be done soon."
"Well, I forgot to add some items to the list," my mother said. I sighed in relief as I was spared from my mother's nagging. "I'll send you a message for the additional items."
"Okay, sure." I started pushing the cart when there were no more items that can be found on the canned goods aisle from my current list.
"Thank you!" My mother exclaimed from the other line. "Take care and enjoy!"
My mother ended the call before I could say anything further. I stared at the black screen of my phone, wondering why she said 'enjoy' at the last bit but immediately shrugged it off.
I once again started pushing the cart around the tall aisles of the supermarket. When my mother finally sent the list of the additional items that I needed to buy, a loud groan left my mouth. Although the list is quite short, I needed to go back to the other sections to get the new items, and the number of people inside the supermarket may not make it easy for me.
I grudgingly went back to the other aisles and started reducing the items from the new list. I might be here for another hour as I have not even finished half of the list, and the cart is getting heavier to push as there were already too many items in it.
I checked my list once again once I arrived at the dairy section for any dairy products, and unknowingly, I almost bumped my cart onto another cart if not for someone grabbing the handle of mine and preventing the incident.
"Sorry, I wasn't looking!" I smiled apologetically at the young woman in front of me who was using the cart I almost bumped into.
"No worries," she replied while smiling but she wasn't looking at me. She was staring at something behind me, and because of curiosity, I turned to check what it was that she was staring at.
"You should stop if you are going to check your list."
My eyes widened when I saw Ansel right behind me. I was welcomed by his piercing blue eyes, and my breath hitched in my throat at the sight of him. He was too close to me as he was holding the handle of the pushcart, and I was suddenly engulfed by his overpowering presence as I felt like I was trapped between him and the pushcart behind me.
I blinked a few times, unable to comprehend what was happening.
'What is he doing here?'
Ansel was wearing a long-sleeved maroon knitted sweater with a pair of dark grey pants. The sleeves of his sweater were rolled up to his elbows, showing off his muscular arm, and I can't help but stare at how good he looked wearing casual attire.
"Alina?" My name rolled off his tongue pleasantly. I shifted my gaze back to his face and found that he was staring right at me.
"Ye-yes?" I stammered out and I scolded myself inwardly for it. I was too surprised because I suddenly saw him, and in order to hide my awkwardness, I asked, "Why are you here?"
"I was on my way to your house when Elena told me that you are here, and you might need help bringing the items home," Ansel explained, and I suddenly remembered my mother saying 'enjoy' right before she cut our call earlier.
My mother is really brave for ordering Ansel around like this.
Ansel suddenly leaned in towards me, and I felt like my heart is going to burst anytime as he was all of a sudden merely inches apart from me. I was about to open my mouth and ask him what he was doing when he suddenly snatched the list from my hand.
"You are halfway down the list," Ansel spoke while staring at the list that I was holding a few seconds ago. "We should go. Here," Ansel handed the list back to me, and I mechanically reached out for it.
The unexpected turn of events still felt unreal to me, and I merely nodded at what he said. Ansel started pushing the cart for me, and I followed suit while staring at his broad back.
I couldn't concentrate at the task on hand as I was once again swept around by my mother's devices and I can't do anything about it except to go with its flow.
I turned my attention back on the list, trying my hardest to ignore Ansel's presence, but seeing as how the people that we passed by cannot help but stare at him, I'm having a hard time focusing on the list and also found myself staring at him.
It was only after a few minutes later that I am finally able to gather myself. I was in charge of getting the items from the shelves, and Ansel was in charge of pushing the cart. He would stop and wait for me to get the items, and we would look at the list together before moving onto another section.
I tried my best to ignore the stares that we were getting, or rather the stares directed at Ansel and focused on finishing our grocery shopping. Although we were silent most of the time, I began starting to feel comfortable around him, and the frown that I was sporting earlier because of my mother's surprise turned into a small smile.
After crossing off some items from the list, I finally took the courage to ask the question that has been on my mind since he came. "The dinner is supposed to be at seven, right?" I furrowed my eyebrows questioningly at Ansel who was looking at me impassively. "Why are you already on the way to our house at two?"
Ansel stared at me for a few moments before answering, "Elena tend to overexert herself with cooking whenever I visited before." When he said the word 'before', his voice became lower. He shifted his gaze away from me and continued, "I wanted to see if I could help."
I looked down onto my hands when I heard his answer. I remembered how my mother fussed over him when he first visited our house officially as my boyfriend. She began preparing a lot of dishes for him, and not even my father could stop her. I remembered how she would also send home-cooked meals at our apartment, and I would pout at her because it would always be Ansel's favorite foods.
"Well," I started, a smile slowly forming on my lips. I turned my gaze back to him and continued, "Seeing the list that she made, I guess you won't be eating spicy food for a week."
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