Ok!"
She said as she ran towards a cloth rack.
She put on a blue jacket and looked at herself in the mirror.
"Hmm, I love this one, here." She handed it to Hal who put it inside the shopping cart he had dragged along with him.
She picked a few more dresses and moved on to other places.
She shopped for dresses, Snickers, and a school bag, among other things, and most importantly, food, junk, to be particular.
After shopping they went to the counter to pay the bills.
Hal knocked on the counter and the attendant raised her head.
As soon as she saw Hal, her face reddened instantly, and she stared into his eyes like one looking into the abyss.
Hal was taken aback by this attitude and quickly checked himself to see if there was anything wrong with him.
After checking for a while, he found nothing and decided to snap the young lady out of her daydreaming.
He waved his hands In front of her, and only then did she finally move.
But it wasn't to attend to their goods; no, it was to woo Hal.
"Helloo there, cutie; how are you doing today?" She said seductively, winking her eye at him with tongue in between her teeth.
"Yikes!" Bethany, who was beside Hal, exclaimed.
"No way are you having my brother—not by Odin's beard!"
"Relax Beth, the lady probably is just doing her job as an attendant.....a little too well."
"Here, we would like to pay for them," Hal said handing her the goods they'd brought.
"Sure!" She said and collected the goods to scan their price, but she didn't stop throwing seductive glances at Hal.
Hal just stood there, looking at her. She simply wasn't his type.
She had short black hair with a bright purple patch in the middle, short silver earrings, a diamond ring on her nose... and heavy black makeup.
The whole style.... just wasn't his style. He preferred something more natural, without all the make-up and foundation.
As Hal was still busy giving his take on the lady in his head, she finished ringing their goods and called the price.
"200$," She said, leaning on the counter with the top button of her shirt now undone, revealing the top of her smooth perky cleavage.
Hal made a weird face when he saw it...
'When did she do that?' He thought as it wasn't like that a few minutes back.
"Ok." Hal brought out his card and paid for the goods.
Once he paid for it, he turned around to leave but noticed before turning that the attendant wasn't moving. She was experiencing a sort of lapse and just stood staring at the counter.
'What could be wrong with her?' Hal thought.
"Is she gonna be alright?" Bethany asked with concern in her voice when she saw the lady who was energetic a few while back now inactive.
Hal moved to touch her, but a voice suddenly came from ahead of him. It belonged to a man.
"Don't!" He shouted almost aggressively.
"Don't touch her." He said more softly when he was closer.
"Just go." He said with a firm look.
Hal studied him for a moment...
He was a quiet old man, probably in his late 40's.
Hal looked at both of them one more time and moved.
"Beth, let's go."
"Ok."
They took their goods and headed towards the exit, and Hal kept his face ahead, not planning on looking back at them, but just as his hand was about to touch the handle of the door, he heard a beautiful female voice shout out to him from behind.
"Goodbye, cutie!"
Hal turned to look and saw one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen in his life on the face of the weird attendant.
She was waving at him from her place behind the counter, the smile never leaving her face, showing a beautiful set of white teeth.
Weird? She was no doubt...
She wasn't his type? Yes. But...
Beautiful? That was an undeniable fact.
She was a weird little beauty.
***
By the time they were done for the day, it was already dark.
As Hal and Bethany stepped out of the store, the night air was crisp, carrying the distant hum of traffic and the occasional chatter from late-night pedestrians. The neon glow of streetlights cast long shadows on the pavement as they made their way home.
Bethany walked beside Hal, holding a small bag of chips, her expression thoughtful. "That woman at the counter… something was off about her," She said after a moment.
Hal shifted the grocery bags in his hands. "Yeah, I noticed that too. Like I said earlier, she is weird."
Bethany nodded. "And that old man… the way he told us to leave. He seemed worried."
Hal exhaled through his nose, his mind replaying the scene. "Whatever it was, it's none of our business. Let's just get home."
He didn't want to get involved in what was none of his business.
They walked the rest of the way in silence, the familiar streets bringing a sense of normalcy after the unusual encounter.
Upon reaching their apartment, Hal unlocked the door, and Bethany immediately set her bags on the table. "I'll take a quick shower," she said simply before heading down the hall.
Hal placed the groceries on the counter and started putting things away. The apartment was quiet except for the sound of running water. As he organized the food, his thoughts drifted back to the store attendant. He had met plenty of odd people before, but something about her reaction—and the old man's warning—stuck with him.
But he quickly brushed it aside and focused on the matter at hand. Bethany returned shortly, dressed in comfortable clothes, and sat down on the sofa.
"Aren't we watching something?" she asked.
"Well, we could," Hal replied, picking a random action movie.
He looked at it, and it read 'Jurassic Park.'
'Well, watching a movie about dinosaurs couldn't make today any less unusual than it already was.' He thought.
As the film played, the day's events lingered in the back of his mind. But for now, he focused on the moment—spending the rest of the quiet night with his already asleep little sis.