Aria Blaze's series of unhappy events

by Rhulain

Grocery Shopping part 2

Everyday has its ups and downs, little happy accidents and minor annoyances. Every so often, you might have a wonderful day where everything goes right and it seems almost storybook perfect. Then, there are the days where nothing goes right. The days where you have to go grocery shopping at eight in the morning because your ditzy sister pigged out on your beloved bacon. Days that start in a foul mood and don't get better till you've caused someone else some form of distress, be it emotional or physical. Days like today.

Fluorescent light filled the store with its bland white glow, lending itself to showcasing the best deals on the hottest products. None of that mattered though, as Aria Blaze had a list. Not that Aria was one to be obsessed with lists, she wasn't that purple. No, Aria usually didn't write lists, and this was no exception. This list was written by her elder sister, Adagio. In fact, the only reason Aria was glad for this list was so that she could use it to get out of this hellish store as quickly as possible. The only reason Aria was even here was to buy a few more pounds of succulent bacon, and the store had the audacity to be out. Salmonella be damned, she wanted her pork strips.

The livid girl was preceded by her cart, and the harsh squealing of the front right wheel. It seemed like grocery stores were contractually obligated to have squeaky wheeled carts, even though a squirt of oil would stop it. Aisle after aisle of goods passed her by as she slowly walked to the back of the store, intending to work back to front. The few other patrons unfortunate enough to be shopping so early were wise enough to quickly steer clear of the scowling girl after one look at her face.

Grumbling to herself, Aria turned the cart sharply into the last aisle. She wheeled past stacks of canned sodas, bottled juices, and various other drinks. The three sisters were not much for keeping sugary drinks at home. Sure they usually kept a twelve pack or two of cola in the back fridge, but that usually only got replaced every week or so. Even Sonata preferred to drink water for the most part. Speaking of water, there seemed to be a problem.

"Where is it?" she mumbled, turning the cart around and returning back the way she came. "Mountain valley, Icy spring, C.G.E. select-" She paused in her reading of the water brands, standing in front of a large gap in the stock "Wheres the Heavenly Rain?" She dumbly asked no one in particular. A tight grimace swept across her face. Aria and Adagio both agreed that Heavenly Rain was by far the best brand of drinking water, and detested having to settle for less. She knew she was going to catch hell from Adagio for this. With a heavy sigh, she stuck two cases of Icy Spring water onto the under-cart rack.

+--------------------+--------------------+

She was on her way to the cooler aisle, listening to the steady squeal on the cart's janky wheel, when she noticed something amazing. The 'hardware' aisle. She hurried down it, looking for something in particular. She sighed in happiness at the sight of a large WD-40 can. Tearing the plastic wrap off she squatted down and unloaded onto the squeaky wheel. She soaked the thing, making sure to get every nook and cranny. Once she was satisfied she stood, dropping the canister on the floor and pushing the cart back and forth. The cart glided easily, with nary a squeak to be heard.

With that settled, she wheeled her way back to the central aisle, moving onward to the next item on her list. Milk.

+--------------------+--------------------+

Luckily, there was nobody in the cooler section. The already ticked off girl was't sociable on her good days, and this was not one. Currently, she was leaning against the cool glass of the milk door, lightly thumping her forehead against it repeatedly. "No gallons. How are there no gallons of either type?" She asked herself, voice strangely calm. Her burning gaze was locked on the two empty racks behind the thin glass. Every row was nice and full, except for the whole milk gallons, and the two percent milk gallons.

Cracking open the door, she sneeringly pulled out two half gallons of each kind, setting them roughly in the basket. It wasn't the price that bothered her, it was the unprofessional behavior. Money was no object to the filthy rich trio of sisters. Aria was just annoyed that they would let themselves go out of stock of something as common as milk gallons.

Still shaking her head about it, she crossed the aisle, slightly happy that the eggs she needed were kept in the same aisle. She pushed the cart past yogurts, cold juices, and bottled coffees until she found the eggs "Okay, two dozen...ah, the grade As." She muttered, opening the door and grabbing a pack. Almost immediately she noticed the strings of yellow yolk dripping down from one side. "Ugh, really?" She groaned, setting that one down and grabbing another to check. She opened the Styrofoam package and shut it instantly. four were cracked. A baleful glare passed over the shelves of eggs before her. She had a bad feeling about this. Three cracked, six cracked, one rotten. She disgustedly threw yet another worthless container back onto the shelf.

"I swear i'm gonna hurt someone if I cant get some eggs." She spat, rummaging through a couple more containers. "Okay that's it." She opened four or five containers and began swapping eggs. Shortly after, two dozen pristine eggs were set into the cart carefully. She happily walked away from the mess she left behind, leaving the door wide open. a smug smile crossed her face as she passed by an employee wearing a green shirt. "Your eggs are terrible." She said, not waiting to hear his response. She had bread to get.

+--------------------+--------------------+

Though the amount of plastic muted it, Aria always enjoyed the smell of the bread that lined the aisle. Throughout her long life, Aria had eaten and enjoyed thousands of types of bread. Though many of those recipes were lost forever, Aria had memorized her personal favorites. Only one of those could be bought from a store, but luckily she had plenty of rye bread at home. Today she was grabbing the breads her sisters preferred. Adagio was obsessed with her figure, and ate only whole wheat if she did eat bread. Sonata, ever the childish one, had become fond of the simple bleached flour 'white' bread.

The blue skinned girl's preferred brand was quickly located and a loaf was transported to the cart. Aria smiled briefly and moved down to the wheat section. That was where her frown returned. Adagio's favored loaf was missing. Ever the stickler about brands, she only ate one type of wheat bread. A special twelve grain blend that was apparently very popular among 'healthy' people.

"I'm not even surprised. The way today has gone, I'm surprised the store isn't burning." She gave a heavy, disgusted sigh and grabbed a generic whole wheat loaf. "I don't need another arson charge anyway." She mumbled as she quickly walked away from the breads. She could almost hear Adagio's complaints about the bread not being good enough. Aria's give-a-fuck level was so firmly in the negative that she cracked a faint grin at the thought of the poofy haired siren's rage.

+--------------------+--------------------+

As she entered the large, open produce section, she sighed softly. Just a couple more things and she could leave. She was never coming here alone again.

Turning into the first aisle, she grimaced as she felt a tingle of rot pass her nose. That didn't inspire confidence. She looked down at the produce to find the source. She had a bad feeling she knew what it was already though. As if some god was pointing and laughing at her, it was the broccoli. No big loss, Aria wasn't crazy for the stuff anyway. She just knew it was gonna be more bitching and moaning when she got home. Adagio insisted on 'proper nutrition' and Sonata was gaga for the green goodies.

Moving on, she continued down the line till she got to the carrots. Or well, where the carrots would be. Across the store, an employee paused putting cans on a shelf. "Was that a dog growling?" He asked himself, before shaking his head "Nah, probably some engine." He went back to stocking cans, putting it out of his mind.

"I swear if anything else goes wrong I will not be held accountable for my actions." Hissed a very angry siren. She looked around and saw a shelf of baby carrots sitting pretty under the light. A purple hand grabbed a few bags and not so gently threw them into the basket, barely missing the eggs.

She pushed the cart away from the vegetables, moving into the sweetly scented fruit area. She paused for a moment and took a deep breath, enjoying the soft aromas of the various fruits. First place she stopped was the apples. Aria was pleased to see that they were all fresh and bountiful. "Finally, some good fucking food." She mumbled, loading up several bags with multiple kinds of apples. She got a handful of tart green apples, sweet pink apples, and even a few bright red apples. All in all she got nearly four times as much as the list called for, but oh well, she'd just have to eat more of them. With a gentle smile, rare on her face, she pushed away, happy that something went right for once. All she had left was to get a few oranges.

"And so I told her, like, hes my boyfriend, so like, don't even think about it" Things were going well. Until this obnoxious girl parked in front of the orange display to chit chat with her 'bestie'. She looked like a walking cliche, with platinum blonde hair curling to her shoulders, a vest, leggings, and some ugly furry boots.

"Excuse me. I need some oranges." Aria was being patient. This was the last thing she needed, then she was home free.

"Then she like, tried to say that she was better than me, and I like, almost lost my shit." So patient.

"Excuse me, I said I need some oranges." Aria should qualify for sainthood at this point.

"Hold on." She turned to Aria. "Do you mind? I'm like, having a conversation. Sorry about that, some girl is just staring at me." Well maybe not sainthood.

Aria's arm snapped out, ripping the phone from the girl's hands, stunning her. She pressed the phone to her own ear "She'll have to call you back." She growled into the receiver, before mashing the 'end call' button. She tossed the phone into the shocked girl's cart and sneered at her "Now Move out of my way before I make you move." The girl yelped and quickly pushed her cart away, out of Aria's reach.

"Like, what a psycho!"

"Keep walking!" She snapped, grumbling as she started to fill a bag with oranges. Once she was done and had them in her cart she let out yet another heavy sigh. "Keep it together Aria. You're almost two thousand years old. You can do this." Mini pep talk complete, she wheeled her way to the checkout lines, picking one that was empty, manned by some bored looking woman.

Thankfully for the both of them, the checkout process went smooth as silk, the only words spoken being Aria's total and a mumbled thank you. Her items bagged and put back into the cart, receipt in hand, Aria finally escaped the hellish store, exiting into glorious sunlight.

+--------------------+--------------------+

Aria immediately started off for home, pushing the cart through the brisk morning air. It wasn't like she was gonna carry five bags of groceries home. Now that she was out of that crummy store her deep set scowl faded, leaving her with her default expression. Lovingly called 'resting bitch face' by her sisters, it smoothed out the angry wrinkles, leaving her looking like a young girl again.

She was barely a half mile away, passing by a still closed liquor store and a bakery, when she heard the voice from the alley. She turned to see a tall, broad figure in the shadows, pointing something at her. A quick glance told her it was a shiny revolver.

"Put your hands up, girlie." The man said again, wiggling the gun at her.

"No." was the eloquent response. The gun barrel dropped a bit, the guy clearly surprised.

"What?"

"I said no." At this point he stepped forward, his face rather plain and unremarkable, except for the confusion

"Why not?" He looked around, sounding a little distressed. he clearly wasn't very good at this.

"I don't want to." Aria scowled up at the taller man, looking him dead in the eye.

"But I've got a gun."

"I don't care." His gun dropped, the would be mugger holding it at his side

"But...this doesn't make any sense!" Aria scoffed and started walking away

"Too bad." Stubborn as a mule, Aria didn't even look back, just continuing on her way. To his credit, the man didn't try and stop her. In fact, he later got a job and became a successful telemarketer.

Nearly two hours after she left, Aria finally approached her front gate, a quick code punch opening it for her. She pushed the cart back up the long drive. The front door was pushed open and the shopping cart was pulled inside.

"I'm back!" She called, as she made her way into the kitchen. Inside the kitchen, Adagio and Sonata happened to be sitting at the counter, eating a simple breakfast "Really? You two are only just now eating?" She scoffed, pushing the cart into the kitchen.

"Oh my god Aria, did you steal another cart?" Adagio frowned, getting up and moving to look inside "That's like the fifth one this year.

"Yeah Ari, you know we have like, five cars right?" chirped Sonata, happily munching away on a bowl of cereal that was ninety percent marshmallows. Aria sneered at them both, pulling the largest apple from the bag and polishing it on her shirt.

"Tch, whatever. I felt like walking." She took a large bite, chewing and swallowing noisily. "But since I got the shit, and the had absolutely no bacon-" She narrowed her eyes at a sheepish Sonata. "You two can put the stuff away." Without waiting for a response, she sauntered away. She was halfway up the first staircase, on her way to her third floor suite, when she heard it.

"Aria Blaze! Where is my twelve grain!?"

Author's Note:

And so ends the grocery saga!

Please feel free to point out any grammar errors, as I have only myself to edit.

Comments

[MaybyAGhost]

I've gotta say I do really like the direction that the story is going in! I feel that at times there's a little bit too much description going into things (This one is probably just on me don't think too much on it) but the fact that I don't think even once you've made repeated use of an adjective yet is nothing short of ridiculous, so props with that one.
The references are nice, they get an easy giggle out and I do think they have a place in a lighthearted story like this one. The important thing is just be careful not to go too overboard, maybe just try and go for one slightly obscure one each chapter and make a game out of readers 'finding the meme' or something? I dunno I'm not you.

Anyways, made me smile! Keep it up <3

P.S. Commas.

[Rhulain]

9313984
Thanks for the interest. I’ve honestly been stressed and busy recently and every time I try and think of what to do next, I can’t come up with anything worth while.