Together We Stand

by JA Lafrance

  “Why don’t you find out?” I sass back and my eyes bulge out of my head. Oh. My. Fucking. Goodness. I can’t believe I just blurted that out so casually.

  I watch as he smirks, before stepping closer and whispering, “I do believe you just invited me to all your holiday parties.” His hand comes up and goes into my hair.

  “I-I um.” I’m speechless that doesn’t happen unless I bite my tongue because I am eating too fast.

  “Alrighty Asharino!” my brother yells as he comes out of the bathroom with a clear bag filled with what looks like his underwear and the chocolate I smeared on his face.

  I watch in horror as he throws the bag at my face, the bag cracks open and his underwear comes sailing out of the bag and smacks me in the face before landing on the floor.

  “Did you just…” I whisper.

  “Yeah, about that,” my brother starts before making a break for the exit.

  “So, about those holidays.” The man that I just flirted with starts and my eyes well with tears.

  “I have to go.” I turn around and drop my head as I walk out of the hospital. I don’t stop when Ryan calls me and I ignore my brother when Andre shouts my name. I climb into my car, start it up and leave. I leave my brother with his partner and drive to my apartment.

  I seem to be on autopilot, my phone rings. I shut it off. My computer chimes, I power it down.

  I don’t answer my door when there is a knock, I just turn off my lights and curl up in bed.

  I don’t fall asleep. I am upset that he did that to me and embarrassed me in front of someone that I invited to all our holidays.

  I fall into a restless sleep, tossing and turning. Getting up and going to the bathroom like I had the bladder of a ninety-year-old woman.

  I was still reeling from the interaction with the doctor when I went to pick up Ryan, and that was three days ago. I have always played pranks on my brother and some of our other friends, but I never ever would have thought to do it while they were flirting.

  My phone rings as I finish getting ready for work. I have ignored my brother and anyone else that associates with him, except my sister-in-law. She agrees what he did was wrong, but there was nothing she could do about it.

  The caller ID flashes private name, so I answer how I normally would at those types of callers, “Asha’s butcher shop, where the meat is found floating in the ocean, what’s your pleasure?”

  “Isn’t it, City Morgue: You stab’em, we slab’em?” a husky voice chuckles.

  I pause, this can’t be. “Uh, who is this?” I stumble over my words.

  “We met the other night at the hospital. I believe you invited me to all of your holidays, so I can be a part of your prank war.” His gruff voice, makes my body heat.

  “Tall, dark and sexy? I mean, Dr. Josephson?” I smack my head. What am I some newbie? This is the second time that I have said something out there to this doctor in a matter of three days.

  He chuckles. “My name is Jamal. I’d like to ask you out on a date.” I sit down, no that’s not the right word, I literally collapsed into the couch with my mouth hanging open catching flies.

  “Asha, are you there? Shit did my fat cheek hit the stupid mute button again.” I start to giggle and hear him sigh.

  “Hi Jamal, I’m here; you just surprised me is all.” I sink into the couch and listen as he starts to speak.

  I look at my phone and stand up quickly, “Oh my goodness, I am like fifteen minutes late for work. My boss is going to shit a brick.” I grab my keys and in the process of rushing out the door, drop my phone on the ground just inside my door before closing and rushing to my car.

  What a day! I arrived at work a full hour late, to my manager pointing at her watch like I was some tardy teenager.

  “Sorry, I slept in late. I had a rough night.” It is the only excuse that she will get. I am a cashier at our high-end grocery store on a part-time basis during these crazy times. My other job is a graphic designer for a large firm, and with having to close down due to the pandemic, I decided to step up and help out.

  I honestly thought people would be more understanding and compassionate. Boy, was I wrong. Before the plexiglass went in, I was spat on, slapped and punched for trying to explain to the customers that in these trying times, the grocery store is only allowing two of certain items, and on others only one.

  Now I am done for the next little bit and I have time to relax, as I am driving down my street, I notice two unusual cars in my parking lot. One I know is my brothers. The other is a sleek black older style GTO. My brother is in his uniform and Andre is beside him. The other person is casually leaning against the hood of the other car.

  I pull into my spot and slowly open my car door, sliding out and standing, watching the three men all stare at me. My brother waves and I shoot him a look that would kill any other man in his shoes. He drops his hand and lowers his head.

  “Hey Asha,” Andre speaks up and I give him the finger before I turn my head to the doctor that I desperately tried to flirt with three days ago and failed miserably.

  “Hi, pretty girl,” he speaks up and stands, coming towards me. I feel my face get hot and know that I just turned twenty different shades of red before I stupidly opened my mouth and said, “Huller.”

  He steps into me and puts his hands on my hips before whispering, “He is the one that gave me your phone number, go easy on him.”

  My eyes snap to his as my temper flairs. “See, you don’t get how we are; we have an unspoken rule when we are in the presence of a potential love interest.” I turn to look at my brother and narrow my eyes. “We back the fuck off!”

  I try to step away from him so that I can storm off, but he pulls me closer to him and drops his head so that I have to look up and pay attention to the next words that came out of his mouth, “I don’t give a flying fuck if he threw his shit-stained underwear at you. You are the most gorgeous woman that I have ever seen. The fact that you are bold enough to be who you are in public makes you that much more appealing to me. So many women are fake, but you, damn Asha, you make me lose my train of thought. I want you like I need my next heartbeat.”

  “Really?” I breathe.

  He smiles at me and brings his right hand up and cups my cheek. “Go on a date with me tonight?”

  “Only if you promise to kiss me at the end?” I smile at him.

  His lips gently connect with mine, as my eyes slide closed. The feeling of his lips connected to mine, having him this close to me, feels right. He feels like I can finally breathe.

  “Any chance I get, I will be kissing you. I don’t care who we are in front of or where we are. I have been looking for you for years, and all it took was having your brother’s shitty underwear thrown at your face for me to find you.”

  I start to giggle as my head connects with his chest. “Are you for real?”

  “My name is Dr. Jamal Josephson. The day your brother got hurt was the day that you walked into my life. We will fight, we will prank each other, and we will sleep in separate beds at times, but I will protect you, I will support you, and I will promise that you will be the only one I see until you tell me you are done, or I have my name attached to you.” He smiles wide at me.

  “When are we going on this date?” I ask.

  “Actually, I am taking you out for dinner right now before I head home. I have to be at work at midnight.” He smiles and grabs my hand.

  I don’t get the chance to change out of my work clothes before I am placed gently in his car, and we take off, leaving my brother and Andre standing there with their mouths hanging open.

  One month later…

  I can’t tell you that Jamal and I have had the best first month of dating. We got interrupted on our first date when his phone went off with an emergency. I had to call my brother to come and pick me up so that Jamal could go to the hospital.

  The following week, we found out that Jamal tested positive for the virus and had to be quarantined for fourteen days.
When he was feeling up to it, we talked on the phone. Most of the time I went to work and waited to see how he was feeling.

  Life has been difficult since the virus hit, but it has taught me so much about myself.

  Be happy with what you have. Life throws curveballs at you that you aren’t ready for.

  To Be Continued...

  About JA Lafrance

  JA resides in Northern Ontario Canada but is originally from Toronto, the capital of Ontario. She and her loving husband have three beautiful children. When she is not locked in her writing cave, she works with the board of education as a supply Educational Assistant.

  She loves watching hockey and soccer and enjoys talking to the many people she has made friends with through her craft.

  JA enjoys a good joke and sharing them. It is why she is seen more with a smile on her face than a frown.

  http://jalafrance.wixsite.com/website

  jalafranceauthor@gmail.com

  COVID’s Arrow

  V.J. Allison, Edits donated by Cameron Allie

  When two grocery store cashiers are in love, social distancing cannot prevent them from being together — COVID’s Arrow

  COVID’s Arrow

  Hilt’s Grocery Store, Bridgewter, Nova Scotia…

  Vicki Demone stood behind her assigned register and wiped down her side of the recently installed plexiglass barrier and uttered a long sigh. It had been another busy morning, filled with the usual kind customers, but the amount of rude people had been slowly increasing since the social distancing rules began.

  She flipped a lock of hair out of her eyes as she recalled the last customer who had gone through Mason’s checkout, barely five minutes ago. The man had been extremely rude, from saying a number of offensive terms about other people, the distancing itself, and how it was inconveniencing his lifestyle.

  The customer had caused such an uproar, Vicki could hear it well above the din of her own register beeping and the quiet chatting between people at a distance. Mason being screamed at was only part of the abuse they took on a daily basis with the virus restrictions in place. Social distancing was the norm now, even with things slowly opening up.

  Like Mason, hearing a customer complain was not unusual for her, after working as a customer service representative for the last five years. She had started at Hiltz’s Grocery eight months ago, and although she loved the work, it was exhausting. She would go home from a shift, dragging her feet, and barely able to take a shower before crawling into bed and falling asleep. Working six shifts a week instead of her usual four had taken its toll.

  She glanced at him across the two-register gap between them, and let out a soft sigh as he leaned over to wipe down the conveyor belt, as he always did between customers nowadays. His black polo shirt stretched taut against his back, showcasing the sky-blue store logo tight against his lean musculature. The back of his brown hair brushed the top of the collar, showcasing how long it had been since he’d had his hair cut. Vicki’s fingers tingled as she wondered what it would be like to feel its softness against her palms.

  A sharp stab of longing ran through her. She missed their talks in the lunchroom during their breaks, or before and after a shift, as well as their movie nights. He had become her best friend before social distancing and the stay-at-home order came from the Premier.

  Mason glanced over his shoulder and his brown eyes met her gaze. He gave her a sad smile, one that conveyed his frustration over the last customer. Vicki returned it and sighed inwardly, wishing they could stand next to each other, so they could talk privately. It wasn’t easy to share their innermost secrets with the required two metres between them. She had been to his place a few times, in the public areas of his apartment building’s lawn, and he had done the same with hers, but it wasn’t the same. It was not like they were in a theatre, or hanging out, watching hockey at either of their places, like they had just started doing when the virus hit Nova Scotia, and the State of Emergency edict had been declared.

  Vicki glanced to the left and saw her supervisor, Carrie, approaching. She was one of Vicki’s favorite people, and the reason why Vicki loved working at Hiltz’s Grocery.

  “Vicki, go on your break. I’ll take care of this.” Carrie gestured to the register and smiled. She stood a ways from the register, to keep social distancing protocols in place.

  Vicki nodded and smiled as she exited her area behind the plexiglass. “Gotcha. See you in half an hour, boss.”

  “Tell Mason it’s time for his break too, he’s been on since eight this morning,” Carrie replied and typed her code into the register.

  Vicki’s heart raced, and a surge of joy went up her spine. She and Mason hadn’t had a break together in three weeks, and although they called and texted each other, and chatted via social media, it wasn’t the same. It would be nice to have five minutes with him. He had said a similar thing during his last text to her that morning, long before their shifts had started. It was almost as if he felt the same.

  With a shake of her head, she firmly reminded herself that the wistfulness she felt in his words could have been wishful thinking. Her crush on him started not long after they became friends by talking and hanging out in the lunch room together, as well as her time under him as a trainee. They had immediately clicked, and were fast friends.

  She rolled her shoulders and grinned when her gaze met his. “Carrie said to put your sign up and take your break,” she said, with a nod toward the end of the conveyor belt. Thankfully, no one was at his register.

  Mason’s eyes lit up when he glanced over at Carrie standing behind Vicki’s assigned register. “Are you on break too?” he asked as he slapped the Please Use Next Register sign on the belt.

  Vicki nodded with a smile she hoped wouldn’t give away her true feelings, exhilaration making her feel lighter than a cloud.

  He fell in step with her—at the required distance—and grinned.

  She felt like the sun had come out right after a hurricane—the air was light, fresh, and smelled amazing. Being near Mason always did that to her. No matter how bad she was feeling, he could always bring up her mood.

  “What time are you off?” he asked as they reached the stairs to the upper level.

  Vicki started going up first, and she could hear his treads as he followed a few steps behind her. He wouldn’t let a woman go after him. He was chivalrous to the core. Hopefully he was checking her out, she was wearing her favorite jeans that showcased her butt. “I’m off at six,” she replied, and glanced over her shoulder.

  His grin made her knees feel rubbery. “Same.” His face darkened for a moment. “I wish we could hang out at my place. I got the latest Star Wars movie in the mail yesterday.”

  Vicki’s world deflated. They had seen the flick in the theatre together, less than six months ago. She had been looking forward to watching it again with Mason, but at his place or hers. Damn it. She quietly navigated the last five steps, hoping to squash the loneliness that had engulfed her. “That sucks,” she finally replied, trying to keep her voice level, but failed. Ugh.

  After a fast trip to the bathroom to wash her hands, Vicki quickly entered the lunch area, and made sure she was well away from the door so Mason could come in and sit down too. Thankfully, the large room was empty, save the two of them. Vicki was suddenly grateful to the fates for a few minutes alone with him, even if they couldn’t touch. She set her phone to go off in twenty minutes and sat down.

  Mason pulled a can of pop out of his locker and snapped it open. The fizzing echoed in the room and was loud to Vicki’s ears. He took two large swigs of it, his Adam’s apple moving upwards with each gulp, and once again, her fingers tingled with longing. He lowered the can and sighed as he flopped down at the next table, closer than the required two metres away.

  Vicki didn’t have the heart to tell him to move. It felt nice to be able to reach out and touch his sleeve if she wanted to, or be able to shove at his knee with her sneakered foot if he teased her too much. It sort
of felt like old times, for a moment. “Have you heard from your mom?”

  The last time they had been alone for a moment, he told her his mother was feeling the effects of being separated from her only child, and was depressed.

  Mason kicked at the floor with his heel and leaned back in his chair. “My mom asked me to do a family bubble with her and my step-dad.”

  The bubble concept was to start uniting families that had been separated by households during the height of the pandemic’s run in Nova Scotia. Two households were allowed to co-mingle, as long as no one was showing signs of the virus.

  So far, Mason was healthy, and he followed proper protocol after getting home from work, including washing his sneakers with disinfectant, and taking a long shower.

  Vicki nodded, not surprised. His mother, Alyssa, loved Mason a lot, and the feeling was mutual. “Are you going to do that?”

  Mason shrugged, an indication he was going to. “I told her there was someone I wanted to bubble with too, and she understands, but…” His words trailed off into a long sigh.

  “You can’t say no to her.” Vicki got it. She’d do the same, if her parents were still in the area. Her divorced parents lived in other parts of Canada; her mom lived in Alberta, and her father was in Ontario. She had an aunt in West Dublin on the shore near Petite Rivière. Her aunt was doing a bubble family with her oldest son, so bubbling with her was out for Vicki.

  With a mental slap, she let go of her hope that Mason would decide to bubble with her. She lived alone, and had no one to bubble with. Of course, he’d be with his mom. Why would he pick a friend-slash-co-worker to bubble with? Mason knew her better than anyone else; he was her best friend, but they had never done anything beyond a hug last Christmas, and a quick kiss on the cheek on her birthday in January.