Richard was having a rough week, a rough year really. His job had been short handed for months, forcing him to work long hours with little gratitude. It had added a thick layer to his wallet but he was beginning to think it wasn't worth it. Sleep was starting to feel like a foreign concept to him and when he did sleep it cut into whatever he was calling his social life. The last time he had even been on a date, he fell asleep fifteen minutes into the movie, waking up to find that his date was long gone. The thought caused him to pull out his phone again, the blinding screen reminding him that his efforts to apologize were completely wasted.

Whatever, she wasn't that cute.

Lying to himself made the sting of reality less harsh anyway. He sighed as he got out his wreck of a car, the door whining as it opened. The closing door created an unidentifiable sound within the car, but he didn't hear anything hit the ground so he kept moving. He checked his phone again, 8:00PM, it was really to late to be grocery shopping, but what little sense he had told him an empty fridge had to take priority over a little bit of extra sleep. The A/C hit him as he walked through the door, a refreshing breeze that Richard's body's gladly accepted after stepping inside from the muggy Louisiana summer. His head started to pound from the bright lights and the cheesy music. His construction job didn't give him much time in artificial light, even less so now that his team was primarily working early in the morning or late at night to avoid the heat. He wandered through the store, not really sure what he wanted to buy. All he could focus on was his aching body telling to go to sleep.

He did manage to grab bread, peanut butter, and grape jelly. Realistically speaking that would probably get him by for a few days, but the idea of have PB&J for breakfast for the eighth day in a row suddenly seemed less appealing. He rubbed his eyes, trying to coax some life back into them, while venturing down another aisle. Staring at the shelves, he pondered what he could get to change things up a bit. Did ramen noodles count as a breakfast item? He shrugged and threw some in the cart anyway, it was breakfast now. He was looking at his phone again, a compulsive habit developing. Scrolling through the texts, he was beginning to see why he was being ignored. He was the most pathetic asshole he knew.

Damn, she really was cute.

A sudden yawn reminded him how tired he was, slowly losing what little motivation he had for this adventure. He rounded the corner, somewhat randomly putting bags of chips and crackers in his cart. Looking at his cart, he didn't realize he had put the majority of the items in there. He wasn't sure most of it counted as actual food either. Regardless, the cart was full enough that Richard decided he would get away without coming back for a while. He rounded another corned, heading for the check out, reaching for his phone aga-

BAM!

The cart handle rammed against his abdomen, his tired body unwilling to react. His first concern was checking his cart to make sure his selections were secure, realizing in hindsight that was dumb considering what was in there.

“Shit, I'm sorry I wasn't pay-”

The desire to check his phone for the cute girl vanished, now all he wanted to hear was the voice of the woman he crashed into. She was a slightly shorter than him, mahogany hair bounced with messy curls, freckles splashed across her face, and brilliant hazel eyes that told him she was absolutely pissed.

“Just be careful next time.”

His heart jumped, the words were kinder than he expected but her voice was everything he hoped it was. She started to walk away, her green dress flowing at her momentum. He stood there like the idiot he was, unable to think of anything that he would say to redeem himself in the situation. She stopped then and sighed. Parking her cart along out of the way, she turned on her brown sandals and walked back towards him. Richard looked around quickly, thinking that she was walking towards someone else, but her eyes were completely set on him.

 He did nothing but watched her has she approached, his heart pounding harder the closer she got. Catching each of her delicate features as she glided ever closer. In their brief moment earlier, he sensed that she was cute, but looking at her now, taking everything in, she was positively beautiful. She was glowing, as if the heavens wanted to make sure everyone saw her. She stopped abruptly at the side of his cart, her delicate perfume catching in his nose. She looked a little flustered, licking her lips before she spoke.

“I'm sorry that was really rude of me, I've had a really long day and I reacted poorly. I'm Penelope.”

She held her hand out with a apologetic smile. He stared at her hand for a moment, his brain not processing what the proper social protocol was. He shook he head briefly, extending his hand to meet hers. Her hand was insanely warm but soft, he didn't want to let go. He realized that his arm was covered in dirt, his eyes widened slightly, panicked that he may have gotten this angel dirty. He snapped his hand back examining it.

“Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't want to get you dirty,” he said, embarrassed by his reaction.

Her face softened, sweet laughter reached his ears making her even more angelic.

“It's ok, you look like you've had a longer day than me. Do you work in construction?”

“Uh, yeah, I'm Richard by the way.”

“It's nice to meet you. I'll get out of your hair, sorry again,” she said with a smile, awkwardly waving before she headed back to her cart.

Dude, she's walking away say something!

“Uh...Could...Could I take you to dinner to apologize for being a wandering idiot?” He spoke louder than he meant to, confessing to the whole store his dirty secret.

She turned and blinked, using her hand to cover a small laugh. She glided back towards him, the sway in her hips emphasized by her dress. She held out her hand again, this time expecting something other than a handshake. He clumsily pulled out his phone, opening it to the contacts page before handing it to her. Her light pink painted nails tapped on the screen, for what seemed like an eternity. She handed the phone back to him with out a word, walking away as if her had imagined her. He was staring at his phone again, relieved to have evidence that the whole event had actually happened. With exhaustion was long gone, he walked to the register with he head held high.

Even covered in crap I managed to pick up someone. I'm awesome.

He gave an enthusiastic hello to the cashier as he placed his items on the belt. He replayed the encounter in his mind, trying to cement all of Penelope's details in his mind. He pulled out his phone, excited that the blinding screen had something different to show him. He clicked on her name, his stomach turning with nervousness. He readied his eager fingers but was hit with the crumpling realization that he had no idea what to say.