This is the tenth part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, and Part IX before continuing.
Josh stretched across the fruit table to reach the last grapefruit when a woman’s hand came from the other direction just as his hand was about to reach the citrus. His competitive nature kicked in first and he almost grabbed for the fruit before his chivalrous nature took over and he surrendered. He looked up to meet the woman’s eyes and found he recognized them.
“I think letting me have the last grapefruit is the least you can do for me,” she said, taking the fruit. “You’ve taken everything else.”
Josh sighed, as if sighing hard enough would get him out of this conversation. “Hey, Angela. I thought you said you were going to be shopping at Home Market from now on.”
“Yeah, I did. But then I thought, why should I be the one to leave my favorite grocery store?”
“Because this one is closer to my job.”
“Yeah, well, it’s closer to my apartment and I love the produce they have here,” she held up the grapefruit with one hand and turned it back and forth as evidence. “I’m done changing my routine to avoid you. If you want to avoid me, your guilty conscience is your own problem.”
She walked off and Josh silently cursed his bad luck.
“Bummer,” Henry said when Josh told him. “So, where are you going to shop?”
Josh grabbed a mug off the counter and threw it against the fridge, where it shattered, sending ceramic pieces skittering across the floor.
Henry barely blinked. He just watched a piece of porcelain spin in place on a tile a few feet away from him before saying, “Well, that seemed extreme.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll clean it up.”
“I know. I’m just wondering why you’re so mad.”
“I don’t know. We agreed to certain things when we broke up. To make things easier. And now she’s just messing with our whole system, because, why? Because she can? Because she wants to mess with me?”
Henry looked at his roommate for a second, then turned around and left, watching his step to make sure he didn’t step on any ceramic shards on his way out.
Josh let out a breath as the anger left him as quickly and unexpectedly as it had arrived. Feeling defeated, he knelt and started picking up the larger ceramic pieces and throwing them in the trash.
To be continued…