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Marcus: You mean do I go to the produce section, look at a puny avocado and think, “You could be so much bigger and more perfectly ripe” or wonder how meat can come in such a small package?
Marcus: Of course not. [winking face emoji] When you see a business, do you evaluate all the things they could be doing better?
Marcus: Wait, you probably actually do that, don’t you?
Joselyn smiled, pushing her cart with a hand and an elbow as she held her phone, paying way more attention to the text conversation than she was to the shopping. What was on her list again? She had no idea. She typed in her response.
Joselyn: You mean do I think about how the branding on the grocery store’s sign out front doesn’t match their branding inside the store, or how they need to train their baggers better since that’s the last interaction customers have and therefore sticks in their minds the longest?
Joselyn: Of course not. [winking face emoji]
Marcus: [laughing with tears emoji] I had no idea the evaluation that was going on with all the business shopping we’ve been doing.
Joselyn: Don’t tell me you don’t evaluate other people’s cooking. What they could’ve done differently, what seasonings they should’ve or shouldn’t have used, how they cooked it, the quality of the ingredients they used...
She found herself in the freezer section, right in front of the ice cream, focusing so much on the conversation that she hadn’t even realized she had turned down the aisle. She lived for moments like this when she could chat with Marcus when he was working. Whenever someone in her family had asked him about dating, he’d always said that his job limited his ability to date. She figured it was just a cover to mask deeper dating issues, but now she’d experienced the struggle of getting together with him outside of her work hours, she got it.
Joselyn: And tell me you don’t eat grocery store ice cream— especially the off-brands— without judgment.
Marcus: You’re right. It’s a curse.
After thinking of every dish Marcus had ever made for her, she suddenly had a need for fresh produce. Lots of it. Avocados, especially, even if they were puny. She headed to the produce section while she typed her response.
Joselyn: I’m glad it’s a curse I get to benefit from. [ice cream emoji] [yummy face emoji]
She looked up just as she bumped her cart into someone else’s. Her eyes flew to the cart’s driver as she said, “I am so sorry.” And then, “Oh! Mrs. Emerson!” Joselyn wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Mrs. Emerson outside of Nestled Hollow. Her son, Alex, had been in Joselyn’s group of friends back in high school.
“Joselyn! What a coincidence running into you this far from home. Do you live nearby?”
Joselyn nodded. “Just a couple of blocks away.”
“Alex lives not far from here, too! He just moved in— I am here helping him to get the new house set up. He’s had a rough couple of months, so I told him I am coming to help him get settled and I’m not taking no for an answer. Oh, and did you hear that he’s working for one of the top computer labs in the area? He’s won some prestigious awards and was highly recruited. He’s currently developing a chip that will blow the existing ones out of the water.”
“That’s amazing. I hadn’t heard.”
“They love him there.” She reached out and grabbed Joselyn’s left hand, looking at her empty ring finger. “Are you single?”
“I am,” Joselyn said, knowing her voice was coming out wary but not being able to control it.
Mrs. Emerson didn’t seem to notice, though. She let go of Joselyn’s hand. “Alex is single, too. Freshly back on the market, actually. You two should go out! I think it would be great for him to go on a date with someone he’s friends with and knows well. Help him to get back in the saddle, you know? Because,” she shook her head, “you would not believe the wringer Hailey put him through.”
“Oh, I hadn’t heard they broke up. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s for the best. There’s nothing like a bad breakup to let you know that. So what do you say to a date?”
She was kind of hoping that she had directed Mrs. Emerson away from that thought just enough because she wasn’t in the mood to be set up on a date. She had a texting conversation on her phone she wanted to get back to. “I’m sorry. I’ve got a lot going on right now.” She hoped she’d worded it in a way that made the woman think that she was going to be busy for quite a while and give up.
“Oh, come on.” Mrs. Emerson took a glance at Joselyn’s outfit. “You don’t look like you’ve got anywhere you’re going tonight. I’ll tell you what. I’m supposed to meet Alex for dinner in a bit, and I’m sure you don’t want to go home after all this grocery shopping, put everything away, and then have to cook a meal because that’s the worst. You should go meet him. Take my place.”
“No, I couldn’t do that.”
“No, really, I want you to go. Iinsist. I’m texting him right now and telling him that you’re meeting him instead of me.” The woman pulled out her phone and started tapping on the screen.
Joselyn held up her hands, one still clutching her phone. “No, no, that’s okay.”
Mrs. Emerson glanced up before going back to her texting. “I don’t want to hear anything more about it. You two will have a great time.” She must’ve finished sending the text because she slipped the phone back into her purse. “Meet him at Ted’s over on Main Street at seven. Oh, but you might want to stop home first and change. Maybe run a brush through your hair.”
And then the woman was gone. Joselyn was still standing next to the avocados, mouth open, watching Mrs. Emerson push her cart toward the registers, wondering what in the world just happened when the phone in her hand buzzed. She looked down to see three missed texts from Marcus. She quickly typed in a text.
