The Run-In (pt. 2)

Jason knew not to question me whenever I told him to do something of absolute urgency. Not that helping him shop was an absolute urgency, but I was severely worried for his wellbeing. The man knew how to cook, he just didn't do it because he had nobody to cook for.

It always got on my nerves how he would dismiss himself, even at the cost of his own health. I would always have to make sure he ate well back in college, and that in itself was ridiculous because he was the one who would cook. He even taught me how.

The skills that would help me comprehend how he could replace meals with celery juice were lacking in my brain. It just didn't make sense to me, and I doubted that it ever would.

"Alright, I have a cart. What now?" His voice came from behind me, scaring me half to death. I'd been so engrossed with the linguine in front of me that his presence hadn't registered.

"First, we need to get you some bread. I took the liberty to picking some out for you. There's even some baguettes in there," I put the loaves in his cart, adding in a bottle of olives for good measure. Growing up, my mother had taught me to always get two of everything just in case, and that teaching had stuck with me forever. "Now on to the dairy."

"I haven't had dairy in a very long time," Jason muttered quietly as he walked alongside me. I side eyed him. I knew that already.

Jason was as familiar to me as the back of my hand. I hadn't spent two-and-a-half years of my life living with him without learning his ticks and habits.

"Maybe you should re-incorporate it into your diet," I stopped and picked up a pack of organic cold cuts. "Here, for a sandwich whenever you're on the run."

Jason looked down at the meat with a weird look on his face. "There's a job opportunity that's come up, and I want you to take it."

"What is it?" It seemed like a pretty random time to bring up a job opportunity, but usually whenever the head of a department was selected, it was to represent the company elsewhere. I hoped it was a temporary situation so I wouldn't have to move.

"I want you to buy groceries for me bi-weekly."

One laugh and a look at his face later, I realised he was dead serious.

"Why not just hire a shopper?" My forehead was going to have deep wrinkles in them if I kept frowning like this.

"You know me better than a regular shopper would. I trust you to pick things that are suitable for my dietary needs," Jason grabbed a bottle of vodka from my cart and put it into his. "I'll even pay you extra."

Nothing in me warned me to say no. It was like my instincts were dead. I didn't see why not, honestly. I was over him and he did seem like he needed my help, so why not build on some good karma and help him out?

"No, I'll do it for free. Don't worry about it," we continued to push on down the isles, grabbing everything he would need for a decent stock-up. By the time we had both payed for our things and gone our separate ways, I realised that I'd spent an extra hour and a half in that grocery store than I should have.

"Whatever, I did a good thing today."

Hopefully I'd get the good karma I was vying for, because it was desperately needed.