An Elf On Earth

Chapter seventeen, A longing for the past.

A broad smile on her face, Kaylee drove the car to the nearest grocery store and parked the car in a smooth motion, driving through one parking place and stopping in the one behind it, easy enough it seemed.

With a bounding leap, she jumped from the car and snatched her purse from the backseat before she stood gazing at me. I calmly left the car and walked around it, while she began pacing rapidly to the store's front door.

She rushed through the aisles as I ran after her with the shopping cart. All the while, she was loading in bottles of wine, bags of chips, all sorts of nuts and candies.

All that, while she was calling a multitude of people, first of all John, to invite them to the celebration her store would soon open up shop again.

Several of her friends told her they lacked the time, leaving her a little defeated as she started the next call. A cheer burst from her lips every time someone agreed to come by the shop to celebrate.

While Kaylee happily chatted away with people on the phone, I was left pushing the ever heavier growing cart filled with soda bottles, wine and beer of massive amounts and many sorts of snacks.

By now, living here on earth for over two months, slowly creeping towards three, I had gotten used to the flow of life here, or more, the rush of it. If only a little.

I got the hang of reading the script here rather smoothly by now and had little effort in writing it as well. All the different brands for 'almost' the same product were a thing I found a little odd, but grew accustomed to, I had a few preferences myself from some over others. And to my pleasure, Kaylee did keep that in mind with some things she loaded into the cart.

When Kaylee stood facing the cart with a smug grin, she proclaimed loudly, pumping a fist into the air. "To the checkout!" At that I looked from the overloaded cart, to her and back.

"How many people are coming to that celebration, this could feed an orphanage on Keithis for months on end... except they don't let their kids drink booze..." I replied, making about a third of the cart obsolete for my example, but she simply smiled at me.

"Besides us, four people... why?" She calmly said and I shook my head. "You're wasting a lot of money here..." I told her in a soft voice and she shrugged at that pacing past me while I was left to turn the heavy cart around.

What am I to you, a pack mule? I wondered as the cart rolled after her while I strained to get it forward. How much had she loaded into that thing? And how is she going to keep her business running if she's already spending this much just for a simple celebration?

I could not help but wonder, but Kaylee casually swiped her card at the checkout and we continued back to the car.

While she unloaded the massive haul of supplies into the back of it, I dropped myself into the passenger seat of the car. I actually felt the entire thing angle the nose up as she continued to pack more and more into the back and soon, she slammed the back hatch shut.

"I'll be back in a moment, bringing back the cart." She said and happily strolled away with the, now empty, shopping cart, like I had not just pushed the heavy thing though the entire store and back to the car.

When she dropped into the car again, I gave her an annoyed glance, but she somewhat ignored it, simply starting the car and driving back the way we came.

A few hours later, I sat in the, now finished, 'café' part of the store, a host of drinks and snacks laid out on some of the tables and bar. The coffee machine stood ready and Kaylee had already let me give it a few test runs, so we had the option of quality coffee as well.