The Surgeon's Bride

Chapter 1

I pushed open the door to the grocery store and walked in, thankful to feel the warmth of the heater inside. Today, the weather was chillier than usual. It had been snowing all day and even my most insulated jacket wasn’t doing a good job at keeping me cozy. Midterms were to start soon and I had to get a full stock of groceries so I wouldn’t have to leave campus and waste time. Yes, you can call me a nerd. I like to plan and organize my schedule in an efficient way.

My name is Claire, and I come from a lower class family. My father, who works as an attendant for the local amusement park, had to do a lot in order to get me to a good university. He worked triple shifts and took up a job as a cashier at a store in the mall during his days off. He didn’t want me to bury myself under the load of student debt for life. This is why I try to make all his efforts worth it.

I was planning out the next day in my mind while walking down the aisle of sodas when I suddenly bumped into someone. I looked up, startled, and saw a middle-aged man standing in front of me. The collision had made him drop his bag of tomatoes on the ground. I immediately got on my knees and started collecting them. “I am so sorry, I didn’t see you there!” I said as the man helped me toss the tomatoes back in the bag. “No worries, thankyou for helping.” I nodded, “it was my mistake, it’s the least I can do,” I said as I pushed back my bangs behind my ear with my pinky. I realized the man was gazing at me now. “Sir?” I  called out to him, feeling awkward. “Ah, yes. I saw you do that to your hair with your little finger. Sorry, it reminded me of someone.” The man mumbled and shifted the bag of tomatoes to his other hand. “Oh, right.” I said as I started to walk away. “My wife, actually. She used to do that all the time. Never saw someone else do the same thing up until now.” The man said to me and I turned around. “Oh, ok. It’s just my thing I guess,” For some reason, I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.

“She died,” the man said and nodded slowly. Ok, super awkward! I thought to myself but proceeded to saying, "I am sorry for your loss." With that, I hurried off to the cash counter. I had a bulk of things in my basket and the cashier took her sweet time to ring it all. Just then, the man joined the checkout line as well. I avoided eye-contact and handed the change to the lady. Collecting my bags of groceries, I made my way towards the exit. "HEY LADY!" Uh Oh, I thought to myself, turning around. Surely, it was that same guy. "You qualified." He said to me with a stone cold gaze. "Excuse me? Qualified for what?" I felt the goosebumps rise on the back of my neck. Something was wrong. The man just smiled instead of responding and I quickly headed out the door, rushed to my car, and banged the door shut behind me.