To The Rescue

Though it was a bit tricky, for the best result I had to make sure I was right behind Martha in line and thankfully I was able to succeed in this aspect.

"Marcus, " Martha said in surprise smiling at me as I pushed my cart behind her.

"I expected you would be gone by now"

"Yeah, I should have been done some time ago, but I got a call and it took me a while," I said, taking a step forward, the line smoothly moving but our turn still some minutes away. 

As we took another step forward I spotted a couple of red and pink small-size embroidered envelopes resting on a small shelf to my right.

"Looks like the work of a kid" I muttered to Martha's hearing and knowing that I had gotten her attention, I picked up about 4 and dropped it in my cart.

Looking back up, I smiled at Martha who was giving me an amused look and then I shrugged.

"Bright colours are nice"

Giving a sigh Martha shook her head at my antics and I couldn't help but feel bad when I saw the sad look in her eyes as she looked away from me.

We stayed silent for several seconds, before I then struck up a conversation, asking about Valera, Martha's daughter.

We exchanged a couple of words and a few laughs, entertaining ourselves for a while before Martha's phone rang and she picked up the call.

The call didn't take more than a few seconds and when she was done, I noticed her mood take a steep dive.

"Everything alright"

"It's fine, I'm just tired" Martha replied giving me a forced smile.

One look at Martha's eyes and I could recognise the burden that she was feeling at the moment and did I not already have a plan in motion I might have pulled up some ultimate consolation moves.

I nodded to Marth and acknowledging her mood stayed silent.

Gradually the line moved and within 3 minutes it was Martha's turn. 

My heartbeat picked up a bit, but overall, I was alright.

I watched as the sales girl processed the goods Martha had brought, the two of them watching the items like hawks and then the bill was called.

"$89 Ma'am"

Martha nodded her head to this and reached into her back pocket to get her card but just as it should be, it wasn't there and then like I predicted, she began searching all over herself.

"The things I do for ass," I thought to myself, as in the midst of her search Martha bent forward to look into her cart wondering if she had dropped it there and in the process giving me a great view of her rump.

I held out for a few seconds and then just when I saw Martha giving the salesgirl a hard smile I took a step forward and gave her my card,

"Here, use this."

For a moment, both females were surprised, but as the sales girl grabbed my card, Marth also held it.

"Marcus thank you, but you don't need to do this, I probably just forgot what pocket I put my card in, I'll soon find it ."

Martha said these words with a straight face while looking me in the eye and though I was surprised by her strong attitude, it didn't rattle me the least.

After listening to Martha I raised an eyebrow and then looked her up and down, my gaze questioning.

"You have just four pockets on you."

Wearing just Jeans and a plain brown blouse, the pockets Martha had on her jeans were all that were there and just as she wanted to speak I cut her off.

"Look, you probably just forgot it at home, rather than keeping back this stuff and wasting the time you spent here, why not let me pay and then you refund me later."

As I said this I gave Martha a firm gaze and I don't know if it was my passive dominance aura but Martha flinched and looked away from me biting her lips. Taking this as a signal I gently pulled my card out of her grip and handed it to the sales girl.

"Thank you, I've had a lot on my mind lately and must have forgotten to carry it." 

"It's okay, these things happen to everyone," I said with a chuckle.

Minutes later, Martha and I exited the supermarket, carrying our goods in plastic bags. I walked with her halfway to our apartment building and then gave an excuse about needing to go meet someone, having no intention of receiving my money anytime soon.

Martha at first obligated my departure, wanting me to first follow her home so she could return my money, but I weaseled my way out and left her, soon on my own and waking the streets of 

"System, so you're saying until a female becomes a potential baby I can't see her stats unless I'm committing a perverted act with her.

[Yes]

After some minutes of idle walking, I headed back to my apartment making sure to stay well out of Martha's wing.

One good thing was that though I knew Martha's apartment, having passed by it before, Marth who had no need to go further up the building didn't know mine so I could safely stay at home and keep the woman indebted to me.

A proper single mother like Martha knew better than to be in debt to people especially men, so the one thing I could be sure of was that I would be on her mind, though I did feel a bit of worry on the action she might take after she searched her apartment and didn't find her card.

I had initially planned to hold onto Martha's card till tomorrow, but surprisingly around 5 pm, it began raining.

"Weather for two."