Disconnected Errands

Day 1, hour 1:

Ryan sighed as he leaned out from behind the lanky women standing in front of him, trying to catch a glimpse of the front of the line. 

“What is taking so long?” He grumbled. 

He counted the bodies between him and the registers, eight. Then he counted again, checking to see how many were staring at their phones, again eight. 

Screams from a child strapped into a cart near the front of the line caught his attention. The child’s arms were wiggling, fingers opening and closing as she leaned toward the towers of candy sitting next to her. A large woman standing behind the cart looked up from her phone, checking to see if anyone heard the child's yelling. Working her way down the line, her eyes briefly locked with Ryans, and her face grew red. She quickly turned back to the child and gave a feeble attempt to hush her before finally grabbing a handful of candy from the rack and tossing it into the cart. The screaming stopped immediately, the child's pouting frown replaced by a smug smile as her fat fingers closed on the candy, while the woman was already staring at her screen again.    

Ryan dropped his hand, feeling for his own phone, hoping somehow it was in his pocket. Mindlessly scrolling sounded good to his brain right now. 

He sighed again, as he felt the rough outline of his keys.   

“Stop!” a shout rose above the ambient noise of the store. Ryan looked back to the mother, who was still staring at the screen in front of her. The child had torn the bag of candy open and was munching happily away. 

“Stop!” the voice yelled again. Beyond the woman, an employee in a red shirt was waving at a nearby customer, whose arms were full of clothing. 

“You have to pay for those!” the frantic voice of the employee continued. 

The woman turned and looked at the employee and then for a brief moment Ryan thought she was looking at him. Her blond hair bounced around a tired and thin face.

A few people raised their heads uninterestedly from their phones but the woman was already through the front doors. The employee dropped her hands to her knees, panting as she watched the thief disappear.  

By the time Ryan looked back at the line in front of him, everyone except the candy-munching child was again looking at their phones. The child looked at Ryan, her beady eyes showing no emotion as she shoved candy by the fistful into her mouth.    

Breaking eye contact, he felt his empty pockets again before checking the small round analog clock on the wall, 10:30. 

The line moved up a step and Ryan shifted uncomfortably. Habitually he stuck his hand into his pocket where he felt the outline of the shopping list he had made earlier that morning. Pulling it out he pressed out the wrinkles before reading through it.

-Groceries: Milk, apples, butter and cake mix for Amber's Birthday

-Drop off Amazon returns

-Buy flowers for Haley 

-Lightbulbs for the bathroom

-Spray Paint

“Dang it,” he said out loud as he looked into the basket at his feet. A gallon of milk, apples, and a box of cake mix stared back. 

“I forgot the butter,” he said, picking the basket up and heading back into the store. 

Five minutes later he was at the back of the line. 

“Six for six,” he muttered, counting the people in front of him again. Time seemed to go quicker the second time in line, the woman and daughter were gone by now, and there was no one running for the front door. Soon he was outside.    

Day 1, Hour 2:

Ryan pulled up to the UPS store and groaned. The line was out the door. He hadn’t thought about his phone since the checkout line, but now he wondered how much of his e-book he could have listened to while he waited to drop off these returns. He quickly grabbed his three packages, locked the car, and moved to the back of the line. 

“Are you kidding me!” yelled the man in front of Ryan, his arms animated in what looked like various karate moves.

Ryan moved back a step, ready to defend himself when he noticed the small black object in the man's ear. 

A Bluetooth earpiece, he thought, his body relaxing. 

“Excuse me, young man,” came a soft voice from behind him. 

Ryan turned around to find an elderly woman smiling up at him. She was balancing three large packages on top of her walker.

“Sorry to bother you, but I don't think I can get through the door by myself with these,” she said, nodding down as the top package began to slide. 

 “No problem,” replied Ryan, managing to catch the package before it hit the ground. He stacked his smaller packages on top of hers and lifted them easily.

“Oh, thank you,” she said, then lowering her voice she added, “I tried to ask that man in front of you, but he looked like he was doing exercises and I couldn’t get his attention.” 

Ryan laughed, “it’s really no problem,” he said. 

A moment later, there was a sound of a phone ringing. 

“Excuse me,” said the woman, pulling an old flip phone from her purse and looking at the screen. 

“It’s my grandson,” she said with a smile, “So sorry,” she added as she opened the phone and dove right into a lively conversation. 

The man in front of him and the woman behind him talked all the way to the counter. Ryan dropped his packages off, got his receipt, and smiled at the old woman when she paused her phone conversation to thank him. 

He hurried back to his car where he pulled the list from his pocket and crossed off the line for Amazon returns. 

“Flowers and spray paint,” he mumbled as he started the car. As he did, a voice rang out over the speakers. 

“Waiting for pairing.” 

“No Bluetooth today,” said Ryan, changing the input over to the radio, where an old Elvis song began to play over the speakers. 

 Wise men say

Only fools rush in

But I can't help falling in love with you

Shall I stay?

Would it be a sin

If I can't help falling in love with you?

Ryan smiled as he pulled onto Main St, thoughts of his wife running through his head. This was the song that had played at the college dance he had first asked her to so many years ago. 

Day 1 Hour 3:

Lifted by the happy memories, Ryan didn’t remember the next few minutes as he sang along and soon he was parked in front of the new home improvement center. Again he grabbed for his phone thinking he would look up the aisle the spray paint would be in, but let out another sigh when he remembered he didn’t have it.

“Anything I can help you with?” asked a young man in a red vest as Ryan walked into the store.

Ryan had already waved the man off before he remembered he didn’t know where he was going.

“Actually,” he said, turning back to the man. 

“I’m looking for spray paint.”

“Aisle 5, can’t miss it,” came the reply.

“Thanks,” Ryan said, turning in the direction the man had pointed. Halfway down the main walkway, he paused to check the aisle numbers hanging from the ceiling. No sooner had he stopped than he felt someone bump into him. Turning around he found a young woman dressed in a pantsuit kneeling on the ground. She was collecting a dozen papers that were scattered across the concrete floor. 

“So sorry,” the woman said, “I was turned around and didn’t see you there.” 

“It’s alright,” said Ryan as he kneeled beside her picking the last few sheets off the floor.

They both stood up and Ryan handed the pages he had collected over to her.

His eyes darted from the tag still hanging from the brand-new pantsuit she was wearing, to her thin, pretty face. She looked familiar, he thought. Standing so close he could see the bags under her eyes, she had tried to cover them with makeup, but from this distance, he could tell she hadn’t gotten much sleep recently. 

“Are you alright?” he asked. 

She just smiled, keeping her head down and hurriedly turning to leave. 

“Stop,” a voice from behind him echoed off the concrete floors. 

The woman froze in mid-stride. 

A flashback shot through Ryan’s mind. Earlier that day, the face of a woman being chased from the convenience store. He looked back at the woman. It was her, dressed differently, but certainly this woman. 

The two turned in unison. Coming toward them was an employee in a company shirt, the word “Manager” sprawled on the small black name tag pinned to his chest. 

“We had one more question from the interview,” the man said, walking up to the woman. 

She managed a weak smile as her eyes darted from the manager to Ryan and back. 

The manager glanced at Ryan before continuing. 

“When can you start?” He asked, a smile spreading across his face.

The woman returned a hesitant smile before again eyeing Ryan. 

“Do you know this woman?” the manager asked, turning to Ryan. 

“Know her…,” started Ryan, caught off guard by the question. 

“No, No,” he said, “I just bumped into her by accident,” he added. 

The woman smiled, her eyes locking with his. 

Ryan quickly excused himself and headed off to find the lightbulbs he was after. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t told the man what he had seen earlier, but if the woman had stolen the pantsuit for a job interview he figured she was doing something right.   

He had paid for the light bulbs and was headed back to his car when a voice stopped him. 

“Why did you do that?” It asked.

Ryan turned to find the woman staring at him. 

“Do what?” Ryan asked, trying to act as if nothing happened. 

“You didn’t turn me in,” she said, taking a step closer. “I know you recognized me from the store this morning.”

 “It looked like you were trying to make things right,” he said. “Though you may want to make sure you check for tags next time,” he added, pointing to the tag still hanging from the suit. 

“I left it because I was going to sneak it back tonight,” she said, trying to hide the tag. “It was the cheapest one I could find.” 

Ryan smiled. 

“I believe you," he said, "and congratulations.”

Day 1 Hour 4:

The last errand on Ryan’s list went off without a hitch. The flower shop had his order ready and he was in and out in five minutes. 

After another handful of golden oldies on the radio, he pulled into his garage. Where he was greeted by his oldest daughter. 

“Pretty flowers,” she said as he handed them to her. He grabbed the bag of groceries and spray paint and headed inside. 

“How were your errands?” Haley asked, her green eyes sparkling as she smelled the flowers. 

“Great,” he said, leaning in and giving her a kiss. 

“You forgot your phone,” she said as she put the flowers in a vase. 

“Left it,” Ryan replied, “Felt like I needed a break.”   

Haley set the vase on the table and smiled. 

“I heard our song on the radio. Ryan said, watching her.

“Elvis,” Haley said, turning to him.

Ryan nodded. 

 “I haven’t heard that in ages.” She said.

“Care for a dance?” He asked, grabbing her hand and twirling her. 

“UHHHH!” exclaimed their youngest daughter who had walked in right as they kissed. 

Ryan leaned in and kissed Haley again, staring at their daughter as he did. 

“Stop it!” she exclaimed, a smile filling her cheeks.  

“Stop what?” Ryan asked, wrapping an arm around Haley and dipping her as he kissed her again. 

“Their son, who had come to see what the commotion was, giggled when he saw them kissing. 

“Alexa,” Ryan said, “Play, Wise men say only fools rush in.” 

A moment later the voice of Elvis filled the room.  

“What’s gotten into you?” Haley asked as he pulled her close to him. 

“Sometimes it’s nice to disconnect and enjoy the simple things,” Ryan said, spinning her again.