Mr. Stack's shopping

She put the volume up on her Walkman while going through the aisles.
She wasn't supposed to, she wasn't allowed to in fact. But Sue wasn't
the kind of woman that followed any rules?
Sue hadn't lost this job yet because she was the best at it. No other
reason? Well, she was the best at shopping for others, which was part
of her role.
She danced around, picking up now cans of beans, now some chicken
breasts, and now some detergent; humming the songs from her personal
stereo, while the shoppers stared at her.
She didn't care for them. Why should she? Sue was young, pretty, and
was the queen of the world, just like Leonardo di Caprio in the
Titanic, but on top of a supermarket trolley, and not a world-famous
vessel.
And that's how she first knew about Mr. Stack.
He had made his first order on line and she was to be his
shopper.

So she took the monitor, which had all the information about the
orders, the big trolley, and she was off.
Music on. It was sunny outside, but it didn't matter to her. It was
Friday anyway. Sue didn't work that weekend, so she would have another
cracking time for two entire days.
mmmmmmm? very groovy melody? her body moved as if floating to the
rhythm of it, jumping? she would start with the vegetables, as
always.
"I will be there? yeah! I will be there? there's nothing that can keep
us together; ain't none that can keep us apart" ??.. mmmmmmmmmmmmmm
great song?
A child laughed at her. Sue gave her a magic smile.

"OK. Onions, lose, 400 grams; garlic? mmmm? I love this song? let's get
on with it Mr. Stack? or you'll be upset and won't shop on line again?
What do we have here? Parsley! Yes? it makes the difference doesn't it?
It looks like we cook a lot Mr. Stack? Potatoes; nice big mushrooms?
mmmmmm? I can smell them with the garlic and the parsley already. Do
you cook Mr. Stack? Or do you have a cook perhaps? yes? there are some
very rich Singletons in this area."
Sue moved quickly thorough the shop floor. Choosing only the best
quality products; the stuff she would have chosen for herself.
She arrived to the entertainment and electronics part of the order; she
would have to go to the back for those. Mr. Stack wanted the last Cold
Play CD, and "Road to Perdition". Good taste indeed. Sue smiled at
herself. How would he look like?
She finished that order with a very good mental picture of what Mr.
Stack might have been like.

When she finished work, Sue took her uniform off, and drove home
quickly. She couldn't wait to hit the dance floor with her mates.
Already dancing she surprised herself looking for Mr. Stack. Maybe that
one with the open shirt? He looks unusually smart for this place. No,
someone with that culinary taste wouldn't waste his weekend's
here.

On Monday everything was forgotten about the mystery client, and she
could concentrate in her work, and in trying to recover from the
annoying hangover.
One of these days she would have to start taking her life easier.

The weeks passed quite quickly, and soon it was Friday again.

Sue arrived at work not quite as happy as the week before. This time
she would have to work during the weekend, so no party for her, at
least not "mega party".
She parked the car and walked slowly into the supermarket, as if hoping
that something could happen in those few last seconds of freedom, which
would spare her the day of work.
"Good afternoon Sue".
"Hi Carla"
Sue got into the staff-room, still dragging her feet. She would need a
good injection of music soon or depression would suffocate her!

There he was, Mark, her boss. That bastard?come on?he wasn't all that
bad? he let her use the Walkman after all! But Sue didn't like being
given orders, and that was all he did there.
She greeted him politely anyway and took a seat after checking she
looked half decent in the mirror behind the door (looking completely
decent on those clothes wasn't possible.) And browsed her rota.
Yes, she had some shopping routine again. Fewwwwwww! She couldn't stand
being on the tills.
Sue picked up the monitor, checked again the mirror, switched the
Walkman on, and with the serenity of an actor coming out to his public,
she went out to the shop, to get on with the day.

Her heart jumped in her chest when she read the name on the payment
information? Mr. Stack?
She had forgotten?
"Hello again Mr. Stack, what did we run out of this week?"
She took the Walkman out of her pocket and started working. With a
renewed smiled on her face.

"My same toothpaste! Yummy? fresh, isn't it Mr. Stack? And corn-fed
chicken. You know what you eat? two breasts? are you inviting me for
dinner?"
Mr. Stack had a face in her imagination already. He looked just like
Pierce Brosnan, the last James Bond.
Sue imagined meeting him while doing his shopping? he would come and
say, "hey, that is my order isn't it? And you must be Miss Forbes, the
lady who did the shopping last week as well. I've been fantasising
about you all week!"

"Sue! Sueeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Mark's voice brought her back to reality.
"What the heck is wrong with you today? You are taking all day in just
one order? there are still four to do? and I would like you to help
with the tills at closing time as well. Do you think you can hurry up a
little"?
"Yes? errrrrrr? sorry Mark."
"Shit? Why was she working there? She should be a singer, or a very
famous actress? she had imagined leaving for Los Angeles many times,
and try the American Dream. She didn't know too well what the American
Dream was, but it sounded terrific.
She put the volume up a little bit more, now people around her could
hear it as well, and many stared in disgust. But Sue didn't see
them.

"Mr. Stack? What are you doing now? Still working? Not. Surely you've
left the office already, and you are having some pints with the guys in
the city. Or maybe getting ready for a date with a sophisticated lady.
No! Mr. Stack, you can't, you have to wait to meet me!" She
chuckled.

That night Sue drove home with Pierce Brosnan in her mind.

Two weeks later, Sue was on the till, when she saw his name on a credit
card.
Mr. Brian T. Stack.
Brian?
She looked up? and didn't find a Bond character, but a sweet ginger,
quite shy and smiley.
It ached somehow. That wasn't her Mr. Stack, was he? It wasn't
possible? he looked scrubby? not the kind of guy that would have smoked
-salmon, mozzarella and pesto in his shopping, was he??? He was the
beans-on-toast type, surely.
Then she started feeling that sweetness inside of her again. The hot
jolt. She would have to accept his looks? it wasn't to be 007, but
maybe 008 would be just as good.
Then she talked.
"Hi Mr. Stack? nice shirt"
Straight to the point. What should she wait for? People who wait in
this life don't ever get anything.
He looked at her speechless. Did he know this woman? How did she know
his name? ah! The credit card of course. But why? Girls in the
supermarket didn't usually talk to him. Girls anywhere actually. And
she was gorgeous?
"Errrr? thank you!"
As he was picking the last plastic bag and arranging it in the trolley
Sue talked again. She wouldn't let him go like that! It could be her
only chance?
"Mr. Stack? I was wondering if you have anything at all to do
tonight?"

He coughed. That was even more unusual. He didn't know what to do.
There should be a manual for this kind of unexpected situations!
"Well... yes, I do actually?"
Sue was ashamed. She shouldn't have done that. Stupid! That's not the
way. Not at work. He would think she was desperate.
He left with a quick thank you. Thank you for the work done, or for the
offering?
Sue felt like death itself. What a ? well? what a flop!

But the next day Mr. Stack turned up again, only for a couple of things
he could have gotten easily in any corner shop.
And the next day, and the next?
And always paid at her till.
So Sue knew she was in the right track with him. Her interest only grew
as time passed. He was definitely her Mr. Stack. The shopping was
identical to those she had prepared for him so many times.
They talked always in the few minutes they got, staring at each other
intensely.
Sue wanted to eat Brian's face with kisses.
Brian wanted to take Sue to bed and ravish her body.
The tension was getting too much for both.

At last he asked her out. He would take her to a restaurant for
dinner.
Sue could hardly wait. She had never felt this way for any other man.
And the truth is it was all to do with his shopping. She hardly knew
him at all otherwise? they only talked about their looks, the weather,
and how their football teams were doing?. But she just knew he was the
person for her. It couldn't be otherwise? Our shopping says a lot about
us after all.

1 x Domestos Bleach, Mountain Fresh.
Yes? Mr. Stack was very neat.

And so the day came?
She got changed before leaving the store. Brian was waiting at the
door; wearing the same clothes she had seen him so many times before.
Didn't he ever change or he just thought he ought to wear those, as she
had praised them the first time she saw him? Sue began to wonder if he
ever used that Persil and that Comfort conditioner for clothes he used
to order.
He drove them in his car. Sue knew it was stupid, as nobody knew who
she was with, or where. But could she tell any of her friends she was
dating a guy she had only seen a few times at work? A ginger to make
matters worse? They would laugh at her. And if they saw him ? nop! It
was easier this way.
Where was he driving to? The town was on the other direction? they were
in the dual carriageway driving away. Was he taking her to another
town?
He had some cheap perfume on. She could hardly distinguish the
deodorant at all there. Her secret agent was falling from grace rather
quickly, and they hadn't even arrived to their date yet.
Suddenly Brian took the exit to the road services?
"What? why are we stopping?" asked Sue?
"I thought you wanted something to eat first"
"First", mmmmmmmmmmm? well? he was right? they both expected some
special pudding. But what a way to put it!. And anyway, there wasn't
any restaurant there only?
"We are not eating at Little Chef's are we???" She asked
horrified?
"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo?"
Sue sighed with relief.

"I rather Burger King? it's got the best chippies, innit?"
Sue's head felt very heavy now? can you imagine Brosnan speaking like
that? She certainly couldn't? and was starting regretting dearly this
excursion.
"It's OK Brian. I am not very hungry really, anywhere will do"
He smiled at her and parked. They walked quickly to the place, which
was next to one of those road-hotels.
Mr. Stack ordered their meals. Just as well! She was expecting him to
order only for himself!
"It's three ninety nine Sue"
Oh God? was he real?
She looked for some change in her wallet, and handed it over to him,
feeling tired and anxious. She didn't want to be there anymore. It was
all like a bad nightmare. She wanted to be at home already, reading a
book, cosy in her bed.
They sat with their greasy meals.
Brian ate like a pig, devouring his hamburger as if it was the first in
years.
"I've booked a room already" he said, spitting pieces of lettuce,
tomato and some unidentified matter. "I can't stay long though?"
Oh, she thought. A quickie. She should have guessed?
"Really" She asked, to say something?" And why is that?" Girlfriend
waiting back home, surely. That's why he had taken her out of town. The
ultimate insult.
He was red on his face, and ears. Was it lust or shame? No? he couldn't
be ashamed of anything, that much she knew.
"That's because of my mother," he answered.
"Mother!? He must have been in his thirties!"
A certainty invaded Sue's consciousness suddenly?

"Brian" She said. "Did you know that it was me who did the
shopping-on-line for you all this time?"
"What the hell are you talking about? He asked.
Her heart was beating fast.
"Your shopping you know? When you shop in the Internet? it was me who
took all the stuff and paid them for you!"
"I never do the shopping! Mum takes care of all that"
Emptiness? coldness? blackness?
"She doesn't have a bank account, so always uses my cards, that's
prob?"
Sue's laughter could be heard from the hotel next door.
Brian was looking at her in awe.
"Are you OK? What's so funny?"
Sue stood up, took his car keys from the table, and left: screaming
behind her shoulders:
"Tell mum she has a wonderful taste in groceries, and a shame of a
son!"
"But? but? my car!"
"It'll be at the store! Take a taxi!"
Still laughing Sue drove all the way back
"I should have guessed?"