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Chapter 3: To'ma'toes

"... Love you too mom." I said as we both hung up the phone. It had been a full month since I'd moved to Yorkshire. Uncle had been nice and forgiving, not to mention patient with my adaptation to life in Britain. The toughest thing so far had been giving up my heavenly morning coffee and replacing it with tea.

"I'm not very fond of coffee..." Uncle told me as he sipped away at his 'Englishman's morning brew.' "Since I'm not fond of it, I don't buy it. Besides, I believe the coffee here tastes differently than you're used to anyway."

I was still learning to live with it, but I was living, so I couldn't complain.

"How's my sister?" Uncle asked from the chair across from me, taking a sip of tea. "Still annoying?"

I laughed. "Of course,"

"Oh! I'm going to tell her you said that!" his accent grew heavy and he set down his cup on the tiny plate on the table beside him. "So, tell me. Do you like it here?"

I nodded, a smile plastered on my face. "Of course, it's beautiful."

He chuckled. "You've experienced the life of a Brit..." He stared me straight in the eyes, piercing my thoughts with his blue daggers. "Do you want to stay?"

I did enjoy life here. The people were nice, it was beautiful, I didn't see a reason not to stay. "I can't see why I would want to leave."

A wide smile broke out on his wrinkled face. "Good to know that I'll have my little buddy with me for a while."

~

A while later, we headed off to the grocery store to pick up some things for a recipe for dinner tonight. Even though Uncle was rich beyond comprehention, he didn't bother having any servants or bulters. "That would take out on the adventure!" he would say. He was too stubborn to ask for help and always insisted on doing it himself. He claimed to enjoy the 'thrill' of it all. "I'm about adventures and such, but I'm not a fan of going on adventures with cleaning supplies." Uncle had a maid or two.

I felt like a maid when he sent me on my way around the store with the lengthy list as he wondered around the front of the building.

First thing on the list was milk and eggs. Easy.

As soon as I placed the containers in the cart, I checked off the two items on the list.

"Bread..." I muttered to myself as I looked at the list while walking. I had a terrible habit of not looking where I'm going. I'm dangerous in a grocery store.

"Watch it!" a woman who looked like she was just a few years older than me half-shouted as I almost plowed her over with my cart.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" I apologized as I swerved to avoid hitting her.

She grunted and went on her merry way. Lovely woman.

After that little oopsies, I picked out some fresh bread from the bakery that was covered in honey oats and various seeds. It looked healthy.

My mind began to wonder, thinking about things like what Britain would be like with more coffee. Or what if I was originally British and not American. I wondered where that guy from the toy store was these days.

No.

You met him once, Andy. You only talked to buy a key board for crying out loud. No big deal.

A guy about my age, wearing a grey beanie and matching scarf with brown hair up in a quiff flashed by.

Was that him just now?

No. It couldn't have.

I dismissed all thoughts of the Toys-R-Us employee and continued with completing my list.