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“How about this one?” Adam gestures to the bookshelf. Him and Anne have been arguing about getting a new bookshelf for months. Adam thought the old was just fine but Anne was always complaining about how it ‘dulls’ the living room with its appearance. In the end, the woman always wins and they decide to go to their local Target and buy a new, ‘nicer’ one.
“Too classic. I need something more modern.” Anne comments. Adam sighs.
“Ok… How about this one?” He shows her a sleek bookshelf which is made to look like a zig-zag. Anne gives it a skeptical look. “It’s modern.” Adam points out.
“A little too modern. I need something in this era. That looks like it came out of Star Trek or something.” Anne says. Adam rolls his eyes. He looks around for something, anything that could catch Anne’s eye. He spots a nice bookshelf in the corner of the store. It’s not medieval time – old but it’s also not Star Trek – future and he hopes it will do.
“How about that one?” He points and is extremely relieved when Anne brightens.
“That’s perfect!” Anne says, and Adam thanks god.
“Great! Let’s buy it and go!” Adam says enthusiastically.
“You do that. I need to go to the pharmacy next door. There’s some stuff I got to get.” Anne informs and Adam nods. He gives her a quick kiss on the cheek before she leaves. When he turns back to the cupboard, he sees a tall man, probably 6’ 4” if Adam had to guess, standing right in front of it. He works here, Adam thinks, judging by his Target employee shirt.
“May I help you, sir?” The man asks politely, and Adam is 100% positive that the man has a country accent.
“Umm, yeah. I think I’ll take that one.” He points to the bookshelf.
“This one?” The man – Blake, his mind supplies helpfully when he sees the nametag on the Target shirt – asks as he turns to where Adam had pointed. Adam nods. “That’s a really good one. It’s beautiful, just like it’s soon to be owner.” Blake says slyly.
“Yeah, I know. My girlfriend’s amazing.” Adam says fondly but with a hint of jealousy in his voice. Who is this guy to hit on his girlfriend right in front her boyfriend? Adam thinks.
“That’s not who I was talking about.” Blake says with a cheeky smile and Adam seems momentarily confused before he realizes what Blake means. He feels his face go red. He quickly clears his throat.
“So how much is it?” Adam says, changing the subject to avoid blushing even harder.
“That’s…” Blake checks the price tag. “$799. Not inclusive of transportation.” Adam groans. He’s kind of low on cash right now.
“How much is it including transportation?” Blake grabs a calculator on the nearest cashier table, presses a few buttons, and then shows Adam the total. Adam visibly gulps. Anne suddenly turns up behind him holding a plastic bag.
“Have you bought it?” she asks Adam.
“No… uh, Anne, Could we get another one? This one is kind of…” he trails off and gestures to the calculator in a ‘see for yourself’ way. But Anne doesn’t react the way Adam did. Instead, she says,
“I can afford it. Wait, let me get my credit card.” Adam pouts a little. He’s the man of the relationship, he should be the one buying furniture. But he’s so tight in money, and Anne is the one who wants it, so…
Adam sees Anne is struggling to get her purse out of her handbag, so, being the great boyfriend he is, tries to help.
“Let me hold the bag. Make it easier for you. Get it out of your way.” He says as he reaches for the bag. Anne jerks it back like Adam’s hand is on fire.
“No need! I’m fine!” she says hurriedly, as if she’s panicking. Adam’s eyebrows scrunch in confusion.
“Just let me help.” He says.
“It’s ok! I can handle this.” Anne refuses to give the bag to Adam. Adam’s confusion turns into suspicion, and being the mental five year-old he is, grabs the bag from Anne. The bag ends up tearing and the contents are sprawled onto the floor.
From the busy atmosphere of a Target, the chattering of customers with employees and the beeping sound of the bar code scanner, it suddenly becomes silent, or at least for Adam it does. He doesn’t know what to think, if his assumption is correct. ‘But of course it is! It wouldn’t make sense if it wasn’t!’ a tiny voice in Adam’s mind supplies. He’s trying so hard to not believe that voice, but he can’t because there is a fucking pregnancy test on the floor right now.
This would great news if Adam hadn’t been on tour for the past month. He had just come back from tour yesterday. So the only logical assumption was:
“You’re cheating on me?” Adam’s voice came out small, just a whisper, but it was enough to fill Anne’s eyes with tears.
“Adam… I’m sorry…” Anne started to sob, and that was all it took to confirm Adam’s suspicion. Anger flared in his chest, but he told himself to keep it in. He didn’t want to make a scene in a Target of all places. So he steadied himself and asked the most important question.
“How long.” His voice was a lot more steadier than his emotions.
“Since… since you left.” Anne answers, still sobbing. It doesn’t really make him feel better, but at least Anne had the decency to not do it when he was at home.
“Who is he? Do I know him?” Adam asks. He hopes its not any of his friends. Anne shakes her head, but Adam can see something in her teary eyes. Something she’s not telling him.
“What’s his name?” Adam asks because he’s not satisfied with a shake of a head.
“Adam…” she says in a ‘you don’t want to know’ tone.
“What? Just tell me!” his voice has risen a bit, and it turns a few heads.
“Adam! OK, Adam!” Anne cries out as if she’s answered the question, and suddenly, Adam realizes, she has.
“Wait. Let me get this straight. His name is Adam?” Adam says in disbelief. Anne sniffs. “Wow. That’s… that’s great. That’s fucking fantastic.” Adam closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. He feels a headache coming.
“Adam…” Anne tries, but Adam is having none of it.
“Anne. Just go.” Adam says, and it’s not a request. ‘This is it,’ he thinks. ‘I’ m breaking up with my girlfriend of two years in a fucking Target because she’s fucking another guy with his name. unbelievable. He opens his eyes and sees Anne staring at him, still sniffling, like it’s his fault they’re breaking up. Then she picks the pregnancy test from the floor, turns around and actually goes, leaving Adam alone with his thoughts.
Now that he thinks about it, he should’ve seen it coming. Adam had called Anne every two or three days during his tour, and Anne was always the one to hang up. And even when Adam had come back, she had refused to have sex with Adam, saying that Adam needed rest from all the touring. And now she might be having a baby with Adam. Goddamnit. He was such an it.
All of his thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a throat clearing. He turns to the source and sees Blake standing awkwardly, exactly where he had been the whole time. If Adam were to be honest, he had forgotten Blake was there.
“So, you saw that, huh?” Adam says, awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Uh, yeah… sorry.” Blake answers back just as awkwardly. They’re both uncomfortable. “So, are you still buying this or…” Blake trails off, trying to change the awkward atmosphere. Adam thinks about it. He doesn’t want anything that reminds him of Anne, but he also wants something to rub in Anne’s face when she comes back home to get her things. And then it hits him, the wave of hurt and heartbreak of a break up, especially when you have been with the person as long as Adam has. How will he ever get over this? Even when he’s moved on, he’ll walk into the house and remember all the things he and Anne had done, and it will break his heart all over again.
“umm… sir?” Adam snaps out of his thoughts and realizes he has again forgotten about Blake’s presence.
“Oh yeah, sorry, my heads a mess…” Adam tries to justify, and Blake gives him a smile of sympathy.
“Tell you what, I’ll make you a deal.” Blake says. “I’ll bring the price down to $749, transportation included. How’s that?”
‘That’s a pretty damn good deal,’ Adam thinks. And Blake is giving him those puppy dog eyes that make Adam momentarily forget about the break up and Adam just has to agree.
“I’ll take it.” Adam affirms. Blake’s face breaks into a wide grin that’s so contagious that Adam can’t help smiling along. Adam pays for the bookshelf, and Blake leaves to get the receipt, leaving Adam alone once again with his thoughts. But this time, his thoughts don’t go to Anne, or how everything is going to remind him of her. Instead it goes to Blake, and how nice Blake was to give him an awesome deal when he saw that Adam was hurting, and how when he had the bookshelf in his home, it wouldn’t remind him of Anne, but it would remind him of Blake. He smiles when he sees Blake walking back towards him.
“By the way, I’m really sorry about your girlfriend.” Blake offers his condolence.
“Ex. Ex-girlfriend.” Adam says before he even thinks, and is surprised at how fast he has moved on. Blake just smiles at his and writes something down on the receipt. He folds it up and gives it to Adam.
“Here’s the receipt. The bookshelf will be delivered to the given address by the end of this week. Thank you for buying at Target. Hope you come back soon!” The last two sentences are obviously part of Blake’s job to say, but he says it so genuinely that Adam really does want to come back. For the furniture, of course. It has nothing to do with Blake. Nothing at all.
Adam says a quick thanks to Blake, and leaves. When he reaches home, he takes a look at the receipt. There’s a scrawl on the back of it. It writes Blake, followed by a phone number. Underneath it says, ‘If you ever need anyone to talk to.’ Adam smiles. He saves the number on his phone and leaves the receipt on his nightstand to remind him to call Blake when he has the time. Who knows, maybe something good came out of the break up.