Who is at the supermarket the night before Thanksgiving? I was standing in the long line at the supermarket… should have known better than to try to pick up anything tonight! But I was missing those silly little marshmallows that make hot chocolate and sweet potatoes worth eating, so I braved the crowds and stood in the express line that was not expressing. I was perusing the National Enquirer. I don’t touch them, just gawk at the headlines. Aliens… weight gain. Weight loss. Zombies. The usual. Raised voices ahead caught my attention and I tuned in to the people in line ahead of me.
The teenager playing cashier was saying…”it doesn’t matter. If you don’t have the money, you can’t take the goods.” The forlorn man was whispering something. But she was shaking her hear and replying “No, no and NO!” louder and louder. She pressed the light for the manager and we all stood there. I noticed it was a very small turkey, 7 potatoes, a jumbo box of stove stop stuffing, a can of gravy, a few stalks of broccoli and a pie – a simple Thanksgiving feast. That he could not afford. He was $7 short.
I noticed the lady in front of me. Not someone I would usually notice but she had this incredibly serene look, as if she had a way of being somewhere else in her mind. She was older, with a curly shock on silver hair, and the most amazing blue eyes. Then I noticed her chest. Very nice. What?! I’m married, not dead.
I looked up and realized she had caught me staring. I thought she’d balk, but she winked and said, “How much is it worth to you to get this line moving?” I stared, puzzled, and she continued, “$5? If you have $5, I’ll toss in $5 and we can get this guy out of here,” she suggested, pointing to the man haggling with the manager and cashier. She waved her $5 bill at me and stuck out her hand. I pulled out my wallet and found only $20’s but handed one to her. She gave me her $5 and then leaned over to press the $20 into the man’s as surreptiously as possible. He looked confused but then tried to give it back. She shook her head and pressed it back at him. He relented and whispered, “Thank you. I… thank you, and God Bless you,” to her. She pointed at me and herself, and he reached over to shake my hand. “How can I ever really thank you?” he mused. “Pay it forward someday,” she told him simply. The cashier rang him out and he took off with his bags. I smiled at her for solving his problem and ours in one kind gesture.
“That was good of you,” I said.
“Best $5 I’ve spent in a long time!” she sighed. She smiled at me. Such a beautiful smile. “It isn’t often you can do that much good with so little,” she explained. I nodded.
She checked out and was about to disappear when I opened my mouth and out came, “Buy you a coffee?” Hunh… not sure where that came from but it sounded like a good idea. She looked surprised but nodded. She waited for me to pay for my little marshmallows, then we strolled over to the Starbucks next door.
It turned out that she doesn’t drink coffee, but she let me pony up for a small iced chai latte. I grabbed a venti caramel macchiato with soy milk and a shot of hazelnut and two dream bars while she found us a table near the restrooms in a quieter corner.
When we were seated, I extended my hand and properly introduced myself. She took my hand and told me her name was Sassy. I puzzled over whether that could be her name and what her parents must be like, or some nickname for Sarah or Sally or… she was not giving me her real name. Then I noticed that she had not let go of my hand. She was holding it, examining it, and she said… “An office during the week… and dishes at night. and the… woodshop on weekends in the garage.” I looked shocked and wondered if her name was Sherlock Holmes or she was clairvoyant. She leaned back in true Holmesian style and said, “You have a blackberry… only business men use those, and your hands have that smoothness that only certain kinds of dishwashing liquid bring, and there are is a cut… there… that means you were thinking of something other than the tool in your hand and made a bloody mess one day last month.” I chuckled and admitted she had deduced correctly.
I reached into my pocket, then reached behind her ear and found a quarter! She laughed and whispered. “Ah… magic!” We laughed. I wondered what I was doing. She looked like she wondered too but was wiling to indulge me a little longer. We talked about the man in the line, the other interesting people we’d seen around the store, where we’d be tomorrow for dinner.
“Is this your regular haunt or are you visiting?” I asked, digging none too subtly. She smiled again.
“This is my neighborhood. You?” She replied.
“Yes… very close to home,” I told her, suddenly realizing someone I knew might see us. She figured it out at almost the same moment and let go of my hands. She looked around and shrugged.
“Will you be back here… say… next Wednesday night?” I pressed. “Maybe about this time?” She grinned.
“Sure. That would be nice,” she allowed. “But I really should go now. Thanks for the chai!” She got up and was halfway to the door as I scrambled after her.
“Let me walk you to your car,” I offered her my arm and we strolled into the sea of SUVs and mini-vans and Volvo station wagons. She pressed close enough for me feel her breast against my arm and it caused quite a reaction. She stopped at an aging blue mini-van and turned toward me. I realized I was holding my breath… that I should let it out, say something. She stared up at me, smiling, stroking my arm.
“Good night, dear man. Thanks for the sawbuck and the chai! Next week if I can,” she said, and brushed her lips on my cheek. I knew I should move, should make a move but I was terrified. “Mmmm…” she sighed. She wrapped an arm around me and kissed me full on the lips. I was so startled, I gasped. And she put her tongue in my mouth! I pressed her back against the car and wove my fingers in her hair and ravaged her lips, her tongue, learned her teeth and nuzzled her nose. Damn, this woman knew how to kiss! She put her hands on my hips and tilted them until I was nestled against the top of her thigh and her ample chest pressed against mine. She moaned into my mouth. I shifted and put a finger between her legs, finding the sweet wet spot! The devil on my left shoulder was screaming for more, but the voice of reason knew I had already risked more than was smart in about seven directions. I backed up 1/10th of an inch… but let her panting caress my face. She licked my nose!
She pulled away, dug into her coat pocket and produced a pen. She handed it to me and held up her hand. “Write you email address?” She looked at me and winked. I dutifully scribbled my secret mischief email on her palm. She made a fist and tapped my chest, then shoved me away, climbed in her car and was gone. I stood there basking in a moment of possibilities, my body buzzing, my mind racing.
Amazing what you find at the store on the night before a holiday!
