After Mr. L comes Mr. M

Freya “Oh my goodness, when is this line ever going to move forward?” I complained as I stood there in the long queue in the grocery store, impatiently pacing in one spot as I waited for the cashier to finish up with one customer. I’ve been here for quite a long time already, and this would be the very first time my favorite grocery store would be this slow in attending to customers. Well, this was expected as I couldn’t help but notice the shortage of staff they had at each counter. I desperately wished I could go somewhere else where I could get better customer service, but unfortunately, they were the only ones who had the ingredients I needed for the romantic dinner date I had planned in mind for my boyfriend and I tomorrow. I tilted my head forward as I tried to take a look at those who were before me, and thankfully they had reduced to just three persons; this gave me a flicker of hope as I stood there patiently waiting for my turn. “Babe, we could even visit a vineyard for our honeymoon,” a tiny voice echoed beside me. I turned my gaze in the direction of the voice, and there I saw a young lady clutching her hands tightly to a man as they walked past the line, heading straight to the cashier, who began calculating what they got, ignoring the persons who were there before them. My eyes flushed with anger. I kept shifting my gaze back and forth as I deeply hoped someone would say something about the recent event, but they all kept mute. “What the hell was going on? Was I the only one seeing this?” I wondered. I took my cart filled with my groceries and rolled it up to the cashier’s table with a stern look on my face. “What do you think we are, some kind of robots?” I fired at her, making her pause with what she was doing. I was already running late and I had so much on my plate to handle the next day which is only a few hours away, and wasting a single second wasn't something I planned to do right now. Y “I’m so sorry, ma, but this is….” she tried to speak, but my voice came in sharply. “To hell with who he is, lady…” I retorted. “It is either you do this the right way, or you attend to me first; you can’t just sideline the rest of us here,” I said, making everyone in the line begin to let out distinct murmurs that I didn’t pay attention to. If their mouths were so large, why didn’t they say something about this in the first place, I thought. Her face etched with confusion “But madam…” She tried to argue, but was cut short by Mrs. Honeymoon Planner. “It’s okay, dear,” she said before turning her gaze towards me. “Name your price, madam, so my boyfriend here can pay you for your time, and you could just go back to your line and shut the hell up.” She spat at me, making me flinch in awe at what she just said. My gaze went to the man standing beside her, hoping that he was going to say something to his woman as courtesy would demand that before I did that myself, but instead he just stood there like a piece of dried mahogany in the woods and said nothing. His piercing blue eyes stared down at me nonchalantly, like what his girlfriend had just said meant nothing to him. I guess he wasn't the kind of gentleman I pictured him to be, considering the nicely tailored suit he wore and the elegant manner in which he dressed. He looked at me with a smirk on his face, as if mocking me, and for some reason, he felt familiar, but my brain couldn't remember where we'd met. “Maybe it was just my imagination,” I thought, because if I must admit he did look ravishingly hot to be such a jerk. I quickly shook off these thoughts from my head as I lifted my gaze to the lady in front of me, biting my lower lip in an attempt to fight back the rage already building up inside me. “Oh Freya, everyone is trying to get on your nerves here,” a voice echoed in my head. I heaved a deep sigh before I replied to her. “Madam, do you think it’s about the money?” I fired back, my voice filled with venom ready to sting whoever tried to cross paths with me. “It's always about it for you women who just want to get a glimpse of my handsome hubby right here,” she said with a menacing tone, making me feel stupid for even admiring this stranger in the first place. I took a quick glance at her hand and noticed a ring on her finger, but she was only engaged. Funny how ladies just go right ahead to claim a man who isn't even ours, I thought. I scoffed with a smirk on my face before turning my gaze back to her. “You wish,” I said, boring a daring look at the cashier. “It's either you do as I just said or stand the risk of losing your job,” I fired at her. “Who do you think can make you lose your job here between us?” his cold, hoarse voice spoke up for the first time, making me look at him in awe. Who does he even think he is? I thought. Just a call to my boyfriend Leo could send him on his knees, pleading for my mercy. And he thinks he is a threat to me? I took a look at his girlfriend, who had been shooting deadly glares at me. It was so obvious that she was pretty much a nobody without the man standing beside her. I rolled my eyes at her and focused my gaze on the cashier with a wicked grin on my face that said, “Pick your poison, young lady.” Her gaze darted back and forth between the people standing in front of her as the tension in the air became palpable. “I’ll go call my manager,” she said before rushing out of the scene as she'd just found her escape route. I took a look at the duo in front of me. I ignored their glares and went over to the counter to check in my groceries myself. When I was done, I dropped some dollar bills on the desk. I was about to leave when my eyes met the daring lady’s. “It isn't about the money, b*tch; I can take care of my groceries. Plus, here's a tip in case you need anything for yourself,” I said, handing over some cash to her, but all I got was deep wounded glares from her. I took my groceries and was about to leave but stopped in my tracks and turned my gaze to her. “By the way, no one goes to the vineyard for a honeymoon; this is the 21st century.” I spat at her with a smile on my face as my eyes moved back and forth from her to her boyfriend. “Babe, do something…” she cried, feeling intimidated by my words. “She wouldn't be needing that, miss,” the perfect-looking stranger replied before throwing a huge bundle of hundred-dollar bills in the air and giving me deadly glares. “Also, didn't your momma teach you to be happy for others who are in love? Oh wait… scratch that; it's so obvious you're so jealous and don't even have a love life for you to recognize one,” he said with a sheepish grin on his face. My face burned with indignation. Who the hell told him I didn't have a love life? I could feel my anger rising as my eyes bored into his; if glares could kill, I honestly think everyone in this room would have dropped dead by now. I was about to speak in my defense but was interrupted by the news that popped up on the TV screen next to us. “Oh, what a wonderful day it's going to be today as Leonardo Freeman throws the world's biggest wedding party with the well-known songwriter Darana Weston, happening live here in Haven City,” the reporter read, her voice laced with excitement, but every word she said hit me like a jagged lightning bolt. That name, the name she had just mentioned, was my boyfriend Leonardo Freeman, whose wedding had just been announced on TV. For a moment, I forgot about the two annoying strangers standing before me, as all I could feel right now was shock from what I had just heard. This can't be possible, I thought as tears welled up in my eyes, threatening to fall, but I quickly composed myself and ran as fast as my legs could carry me to the parking lot. I checked the time, and it was already far past midnight, and in a few hours, my boyfriend would be getting married to my high school nemesis.