Chapter 7 Seven

• Sarah Garcia was humming quietly to herself as she moved down the aisle, picking the items she knew they would need at home. She didn’t forget to pick some of Rosie's favorite snacks. She thought about picking something sweet for Jake, but eventually changed her mind. She didn’t want to give him any crazy ideas. Buying snacks for him could easily be misinterpreted by his teenage brain as a sign of lingering affection. Yes, she still liked him, and she would never forget the mind-blowing sex they had, but that was it. She had made up her mind to put an end to whatever had been blossoming between them. She was the adult in this situation, and she was determined to act like it.
• After filling her cart with all she needed, she took one last sweeping glance at the produce section to make sure she had not missed anything before heading to the checkout counter.
• “Good morning, ma’am,” the cashier greeted her with a smile.
• “Hi. Good morning,” Sarah responded with a nod. She wasn’t in the mood to make small talk at the moment.
• The cashier got the hint and focused on scanning the items. When she was done, she looked up at Sarah and told her the total amount. But just as she was about to pay, a tall gentleman with salt and pepper hair stepped forward and handed the cashier his card.
• “Please don’t stress the good lady. Add her bill to mine,” he instructed, flashing a bright smile at the cashier first and an even brighter one at Sarah.
• Sarah was taken aback by surprise. She wondered if the gentleman knew her before. Why would he just randomly pay for such a large amount of items for a complete stranger? She didn’t know whether to thank him or ask him where they’d met before. She just stood there looking at him, hoping that the machine would say “insufficient funds" so he could leave her to pay for her stuff.
• But to her surprise, the machine successfully debited his account and the cashier handed him his receipt and card.
• Wow. Just wow. The man surely did have some pretty cash to spare. Sarah thought as the cashier packed her items.
• At this point, she couldn’t avoid it anymore. She turned to the man and said with a polite smile, “Thank you very much. I’m grateful.”
• “Oh, don’t mention,” he replied with a happy grin. “By the way, you have a lot of items here. Let me help you.”
• Before Sarah could decline, he picked up as many of the bags as she could and carried them outside. Sighing in resignation, Sarah grabbed the remaining bags and followed him.
• “Have a nice day, ma’am... and sir,” the cashier called after them.
• Sarah didn’t bother responding to her. The cashier's tone sounded too suggestive to her. On a good day, she would have turned around and asked her exactly what she meant by that statement. But this time, she decided to just ignore and move on.
• Once they were outside, the man turned to ask Sarah, “Where’s your car?”
• “Umm... I’ll just hail a cab. You can drop...”
• “I’ll give you a ride then,” he cut her off and headed straight for his own car.
• Sarah was dumbfounded. Who exactly was this guy? Why was he being so nice and helpful to her?
• She watched as he opened the trunk of his SUV and put the bags inside. Then he came back to her, took the bags she was carrying and went to put them in the trunk too.
• “Come on in,” he called, inviting her to board his vehicle.
• Sarah wasn’t being given a choice here. And she couldn’t really feel angry because he was being so polite and humble. It seemed impossible to dislike or suspect him of having any evil motives. After contemplating for a moment, she finally went over to the vehicle. He was seated in the driver side and had even opened the passenger door for her like a perfect gentleman.
• Without a word, Sarah climbed in and closed the door. The interior of the car was cool and cozy, compared to the heat of the morning sun outside. The car itself looked new. Clearly, this guy was one hell of a big spender. What would he want with her? Sarah wondered again.
• “Where should I take you?”, he asked, suddenly interrupting her thoughts.
• “Um... Weston Lane,” Sarah replied. She didn’t want to take him all the way to her actual destination. She didn’t know him at all, and she couldn’t afford to expose the residence of her friend and her son to a stranger.
• The journey to Weston Lane only took a few minutes, and it was made in complete silence. Both Sarah and the man had things to say to each other, but neither could summon the courage to blurt out the words. Hence, they just focused on the road until they got to Weston Lane.
• “Just stop right here,” Sarah requested.
• “Right here?”, the man asked in surprise. “Where exactly do you stay? I can take you in. You’ll need help with carrying all that stuff.”
• “No, it’s fine. Just stop here,” Sarah insisted. “Someone will come pick them up.”
• So, the man did as she asked.
• After parking by the side of the road, they both came down from the car and the man went straight to opening his trunk.
• “Are you sure about this? I can take you in, you know,” he offered again. But Sarah shook her head in refusal.
• Not wanting to sound pushy or controlling, the man sighed and went about offloading the bags from his trunk down on the road.
• “Thank you. I’m very grateful for all the help you’ve rendered me,” Sarah said with a polite smile.
• “It’s been my pleasure,” the man said with a gentlemanly bow. “Can I at least know your name?”
• Ah. So, he really was a complete stranger? How strange!
• “I’m Sarah. Sarah Garcia,” Sarah said after a brief moment of hesitation.
• “I’m Benjamin Sweed... with a double e,” the man responded, stretching out his hand for a handshake.
• Sarah took his hand and thanked him once again. In response, he told her again that it was his pleasure. Then they parted ways.