Shopping Bags
#3 of The Getaway (Thriller)
Shopping Bags
Hello, everyone! Another chapter in this thriller, and I do hope you'll have an interesting time and enjoy yourself : ) Do tell me how you felt like it!
*
"Ken, can you come and help me a bit?"
I was in the hallway and I yelled out in the hopes that he would hear, even over the bloom of the music.
"Ken!" I raised my voice a little. "Can you come to the door?"
The music winded down, surprising enough, and soon he was coming down the stairs, whole tiger in a compression T-shirt and matching shorts that went all the way to his knees, before the legs were bare until his sneakers were stomping the steps.
"Oh hey there!" he grinned. "What've you got there?"
I displayed to him the shopping bags in my paws and smiled a bit.
"Can you get these to the kitchen, there's still more in the car," I said.
"More?" he quirked his brow and flicked an ear while I shoved the bags to his paws. I could smell sweat and a hint of musk, and even in my current harrowed state, it was quite pleasant, I had to admit to myself.
"But this looks like...this is already a week's shopping!" he yelped behind me while I was going down the front steps.
It was a pleasant day. The sun was still warm, even though autumn was definitely in the air. I could smell, if one could really pick up such things casually in the breeze. The trunk of the car was still open when I stepped back over, and I dug in for the rest of the bags. They were as bulging as the ones I'd already disposed to Ken in the hall. I moved the bags aside to see that I'd gotten everything, and that drew my eyes to the grey bag behind the white ones from the supermarket. The sight of it caused a stirring in my belly...not a very pleasant one, but..feeling.
I contemplated the matte-surfaced bag for a moment. A car drove past, somewhat over the limit, loud enough to make my ears flap back. I looked after the car, its rear lights gleaming. There were suitcases tied onto the roof of the car.
I shook my head quietly. The car had just passed the house on the end of the street, the one with its doors and windows X-marked with the yellow tape. It was the only one our street, but whenever you went out, more and more could be seen. You tended to...stop breathing, when you did that. Call it some sort of primal instinct.
I picked the grey bag by its handles. It was heavy, almost as heavy as the white plastic bag I hauled to the same paw. I picked the rest with the other and yanked the trunk shut with a combination of my tail and my knee.
"Ken?" I called out when I was up the stairs again.
"IN THE KITCHEN!"
I put half of my bags down so that I could close the cars doors with the remote button on my key, closed the front door, and then picked up the rest of my shopping before taking it all to the kitchen, grey bag included. I found Ken on the kitchen island, looking curiously at some items he had put down onto the surface.
"What's all this?" he asked as he picked up a can, "condensed milk?"
He chosen another can.
"Fruit cocktail?"
I put my bags down next to the rest, and rolled my shoulders now that they finally were allowed a rest.
"It's just a little bit of stuff I picked up," I said.
Ken looked curiously into one of the nearby bags, making it rustle while he dug in.
"One, two, three...four...what, six packets of instant coffee?" his ears bounced. "You bought an entire bag full of coffee? Was there some super sale special offer or something?"
"Not really, "I replied, "I just thought I'd stock up."
"Did you bring any X-Training shakes?" Ken asked.
"They were out," I said.
"Aww," he shook his head, "it's bad enough that the gym is closed, and now they're out of protein shakes?"
"I did bring these..." I looked into one bag before I found the one I was looking for, and took out a few plastic packets.
"My favorite flavor!" he grinned at the sight of the sports drink powders.
"Would you help me put all this into the cabinets?" I asked. "I can start dinner then."
"Sure, sure," he said, "but there really is a lot of stuff..."
"I just thought I'd get a little bit of extra, considering that there are shortage every now and then."
"Like no protein shakes," Ken mused.
"Like that," I said, "so I thought, it's better to have a little bit extra on the side."
"You must've spent a fortune," he said.
"Not really. Nothing much beyond the usual. Not like we're spending so much now, are we, with the curfew on," I explained.
Ken's ears flopped.
"I miss going out," he said, "gym, movies, shopping, eating at restaurants..."
He rumbled and rubbed his muzzle, and didn't look happy at all.
"It's what we've got for now," I said, "I suppose there's nothing else we can do about it but...sit it through."
Ken snorted.
"Well I plan to do it without having my ass grow huge from just sitting on it!" he smirked.
I laughed. It was such a Ken thing to say, and I knew he was only half-serious. It was funny. It was appropriate, too. He had managed to keep up to a regime using the treadmill and the weights and the crosstrainer despite his gym being closed until further notice. It wasn't so bad for him, except that he couldn't go out now that non-essential businesses were closed and crowd gatherings banned until further notice.
Maybe we really would sit it through.
"Of course," I gave his butt an appreciative look while smiling. "But I will intend to make your tummy big with some dinner. I'm starving."
"I'm hungry, too," Ken said, "mind if I take a shower before dinner?"
"It'll take a while," I said, "We have to get all this stuff sorted before that, too."
"Sure, sure," he said, "though I'm not sure where to fit all this coffee..."
"Anywhere," I said, "we've got plenty of closet space."
I looked at the grey plastic bag. That one was not going to the kitchen cabinets.
"Okay," Ken dug into a nearby bag and pulled out a packet of batteries, "wow, these aren't for the remote for sure..."
*
Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed, and looking forward to hearing from you soon!