Bradga Short Stories

Gummy Bears [1]

I stood in line in a small supermarket and lightly tapped my foot on the beige tile floor. I had one of my earphones in on ear, blasting some music and held a pack of 12 little sugary donuts in the other.

The old lady behind the cash register slowly draped items over the scanner and I mentally rolled my eyes at how long it was taking. Luckily no one had noticed who I was yet and I hoped it would stay that way, but chances were getting slimmer by the second as I nervously looked around once.

I decided to dart my attention towards the small girl in front of me. Her blonde hair was tied up in two tiny pigtails on top of her head and her obnoxiously pink winter coat seemed to swallow her up almost entirely. She happily held onto one of her dads fingers and swayed from side to side on her Frozen boots. When it was their turn to pay for their items the man turned around and I finally got a good look at him for the first time.

He was handsome. His hair was a bit long and it looked like he hadn't shaved in a while but it suited him. He handed his daughter a few items to put into a bag and she giggled every time one of the food items plopped down into the bag.

"25,47$." The old woman said and the man raised a brow.

"That's not possible." He said and they went over the receipt, making people in line grown.

The man blushed a bit and I could sense how uncomfortable the situation must've been for him. His daughter tugged on his shirt and handed him a bag of gummy bears. "I don't need them!" She smiled and the small gesture warmed my heart. She really was a sweet little girl.

Her dad chuckled and acknowledged her trying to help by brushing over her hair once.

I slowly went up to them and shot the old lady a small smile. "I'll pay for their purchase." I offered and the man immediately shook his head.

"No, that's too much." He blushed even harder and I looked down to his daughter who had a wide smile on her face, still holding onto her gummy bears.

"Not at all! Here." I handed the woman a 50$ bill and my donuts. "Just add these."

Before the man could say more she'd already scanned my sugary food and charged me 27,60$. The man awkwardly packed the rest of his things into the plastic bag and I walked outside, opening the box of donuts. I took one out and bit into it, moaning at how good it tasted.

"Hey!" I turned around and pulled my hood lower, making sure nobody could really see my face, except for the man in front of me. He caught up to me, a giggly toddler waving around her pack of gummies at me and smiling widely. She surely was a precious child and when I looked up into her fathers ocean eyes I saw where she got her mesmerizing smile from.

"Thank you for what you did back there." He held onto the bag tighter, as if he was afraid someone would take it away from him again. "How can I pay you back?" He asked, blushing again.

I smiled and thought about it for a second before I motioned towards my car. "If you don't have any plans I'd like to invite you and your precious daughter over to my house for dinner?" I asked, making his daughter squeal with excitement. It made me wonder if they ever got invited to someone else's place or if they simply couldn't afford many trips elsewhere.

"How is that going to benefit you?" He questioned, clearly confused and I giggled.

"Those gummy bears you have look amazing and we could share them." I joked, making the blonde girl giggle again.

"Yes! I like sharing!" She jumped up and down excitedly. "Daddy, pwease!" She begged, sticking her bottom lip out in an adorable pout.

Her father hesitated for a second before nodding. "Okay. Why not?"