I was asked by the British arm of my publisher (Little Brown/Mulholland Books) to write a Valentine’s Day short story in honor of the holiday. So I did — in the only way I know how … it’s been up in England for a bit and now I wanted to share it here in the states. Happy Valentine’s Day!
“This is called Candy Cane,” the sales girl said, handing me the small bottle.
I unscrewed the top and sniffed it.
“It doesn’t smell like candy canes; it’s just candy cane red,” she pointed out.
“Yeah … I know,” I said, playing it off. “I’ll take it – with all the other stuff too.”
The girl rang up the order, placing eye shadow, rouge (I called it rouge, the sales girl called it blush), Berry Juicy lipstick and Candy Cane nail polish into a CVS bag. I gave her a twenty.
“It’s $63.17,” she said, embarrassed for me.
“What for?”
“Um … the make-up.”
“Man,” I said, digging into my pocket. “When I was a kid, my mom could do a whole week’s grocery for sixty bucks.”
Sales Girl said nothing, just stared through me. She could care less. When I was a kid she was 20 years from being born.
I shoved some more bills at her and left before she could give me my change. I didn’t have time to wait for some seventeen-year-old to count out $1.83 … because it was Valentine’s Day and my sweetheart was waiting for me. Continue reading ›