A Hero's Reward (9 page)

Margaret stayed silent for a moment,
staring at Greg's face.

“Alright, but I'll pay you back
sooner or later.”

“Later would be better for me if
that's okay with you.”

“You horrible man!” this
time there was a note of humor in her words.

They wandered over to the woman's
section first. Groceries would go last since there would be some
refrigerated items. Margaret was browsing her way through clothing,
mainly looking at the clearance racks.

“You can get whatever clothes you
want, you don't have to purchase of the clearance racks. Most of
those are more summer type things and winter is coming on pretty
soon.”

“I don't want to spend more than
necessary.”

“Then you want to buy the proper
clothing for the upcoming season so you don't have to get more
clothes later on just to stay warm, don't you?”

“You're a beastly man Greg, using
logic against a poor defenseless woman like myself.”

“Was that a second joke in as
many days? We must be making progress.”

Margaret took a traditional
exasperated, scolding tone:

“Oh, you...”

Greg just grinned at her.

Margaret started to peruse the dresses
more appropriate for the season After noting that all her choices
were drab colors and at least mid-calf length Greg interrupted her
again:

“Margaret? Can I ask you
something without upsetting you?”

“Maybe, you've been being quite
pushy today already.”

“Sorry, I just wanted to ask you
who it is choosing your clothes? Is it your parents and your
ex-husband? Or is it you? It just seems that you're only looking at
the same clothes that they would have gotten for you and approved of.
I thought you said that you were tired of that. You can go with
whatever you like. Jeans, t-shirts, mini-skirts.... Although that
last might be a bit too big of a step for you currently. But what do
you
like the look of? You needn't base your choice on what
someone else would approve of, but only on what you would like.”

“Greg, I'd call you a horrible
man again but, you're right. I wasn't thinking for myself, I had just
dropped back into my old 'What clothes would be acceptable' mindset.
Thank you, I told you I wanted my freedom and here I am, trying to
keep myself in chains. Amazingly though, you're still here trying to
help me break those chains.”

Margaret looked at Greg and he saw her
eyes soften with emotion as she was speaking. Then she truly looked
at him, possibly for the first time. She took in his weathered face,
the barrel chest, fit lower torso, and the legs which gave him his
height. Then she looked back up to his face. She took in his
expression which showed both that he cared for her and that he was
worried that he might have offended her with his last statement.

“Thank you Greg. I seem to be
saying that an awful lot. I do mean it each time but I think that
this time I'm thanking you for a lot more than just pointing out
these self-made chains that you're helping me break. I think I'm
breaking through a lot more than just those that controlled my
clothing choices.”

A half-smile crept onto her face. It
wasn't an expression of joy or contentment but more an expression of
wonder as she began to see possibilities opening up in front of her.

“So, what do you think I should
get then?”

“Whatever you want, but if you
want my opinion, didn't you say you hadn't owned pants since you were
much younger. Did you like wearing pants and were they comfortable
for you? If so, you might want to look at some of those. You can get
either blouses or t-shirts, most likely colored, to go with them if
you choose that option. White t-shirts nowadays tend to be rather see
through. I'll also note that if you get some of the more well-made
jeans, you can normally wear them for several days before they need
washing. That might be a good option, all things considered.”

“Okay then, how about I get one
pair of those better made jeans you mentioned. I can use those to
test whether or not I still like pants. I'll get a few different
t-shirts to go with them so I can wear them multiple days if I need
to. Then I'll get a skirt and blouse combination and one dress. Plus
the necessary underthings for say... a week?”

“Sounds about right but I'd
suggest a pair of slacks also. Something a little less rough than
jeans. That way you can try both basic types of pants instead of just
jeans.”

“Alright, I will.” she
gestured towards the wall of jeans available, “Which brands are
the most durable?”

“I don't know their brands really
well but they do carry Levi's. Those are pretty good. Sorry, I could
give you a better recommendation for a pair of man's jeans but I
don't know woman's clothing really well. Go with the non-stonewashed
though. I'd swear stonewashed jeans wear out faster, just from my own
experience.”

“Oh, there are about fifteen
different types, any idea there?”

“Try some of the relaxed fit
definitely. Aside from that, I couldn't tell you. You could see if
there is someone manning the counter over near the dressing rooms,
they might be able to give better advice than I can on this. If you
have a problem talking to them, don't think of it as personal, think
of it as some sort of business instead. I bet you can talk to
employees in a grocery store if you need something, yes?”

“Yes, I can. That's a good
thought, I'll try it.”

They walked over towards the dressing
rooms and there was a lady behind the counter there, rehanging some
clothing.

Margaret walked over to the lady behind
the counter and asked her a question. The employee looked up at her
and gave her an answer. They continued to exchange a few sentences
and the employee came out from behind the counter. She led Margaret
over to the wall of Levi's and began to look back and forth between
Margaret and the various styles of jeans.

Greg moved over closer, he was trying
hard not to hover but it was difficult. It seemed to him that
Margaret was growing closer to him, or at least fonder of him. He
wanted to give her space but at the same time he wanted to be in
contact with her constantly. This had him trying desperately to keep
his distance and failing as often as he succeeded. As he moved closer
to them, he could hear the employee speaking to Margaret:

“Well honey, you seem to have the
figure for some of their more flattering types but you say you don't
want them too tight?”

“Please, they don't have to be
really loose or anything but I don't want them to fit like a second
skin.”

“I can think of about three
styles you might like then. Your man there was right, relaxed fit is
one of them but they don't call them that here. These are the ones
that are closest to the relaxed fit style.”

“Oh, Greg isn't my man, really.
Although I think we're moving in that direction.”

“Well honey, with the way he
looks if he's even a half decent person, you better snap him up
quick. The good ones never stay on the market for long.”

Margaret looked thoughtful for a
moment:

“He's just getting over a nasty
divorce. From what he said she always wanted him to be something he
wasn't. I don't want to push him too much, I think he's interested
though.”

“Honey, he came clothes shopping
with you. He's interested.”

“Maybe he really is. Anyhow, can
I take all three of these back to try on?”

“Sure thing, hon. Let me just get
you a tag and you can model them for your man there. He looks like he
can't get enough of looking at you, so you go give him something to
look at.”

Margaret blushed and headed back to the
dressing room carrying three pairs of jeans.

She came out quickly to show the first
pair to Greg.

“Those look good on you, are they
comfortable?”

“Yes, they are. These are what
they have for a relaxed fit style. Let me try the others though.”

The next pair was a low-rise and he
could tell that she was uncomfortable in them.

“They look good also but you
don't look very comfortable.”

“No, I feel like they're going to
fall off of me any second. Let me try the last pair.”

The last pair was a mid-rise and while
she looked more comfortable with them than the last pair she still
looked as though the first pair were her preference.

“I'm beginning to think you'd
look good in anything since these look good also, but I think you
were most comfortable with the first pair, so if you want my opinion
I'd go with those.”

“Thanks, that would be my choice
also since I was the most comfortable in them.”

She dropped back into the dressing room
and came out in her dress again. She returned the other two pairs and
put the comfortable ones in the cart.

“Let me go look at the slacks.
And the skirt I want was one I saw on the clearance rack, but passed
by at first because it was colorful.”

“Whatever you like Margaret. I'm
more than happy to tag along and give you opinions if you want them.”

Margaret moved through the woman's
department quickly. She'd scan through a section and if nothing
caught her eye then she'd move on. She ended up with a black pair of
slacks to try on, a dark purple skirt from the clearance rack, and a
dark green dress. She moved through the available blouses more
quickly still, picking up a simple white one with a thick enough
fabric to be opaque and a second one in dark purple that could easily
have been made to match the skirt she had already picked out.

“Let me try these on and then
I'll check out some t-shirts, then get necessaries.”

Greg gestured back towards the dressing
rooms.

She had a good eye for clothes and
sizing. The first outfit she came out in was the black slacks and
white blouse. She looked almost professional and the clothes fit
well. When she went back in and came out once more in the purple
skirt and blouse Greg nearly had to pick up his jaw off of the floor.
It was just about the perfect color for her and the skirt was higher
than he thought she would pick, coming down to knee level only. He
found himself noticing that she had very shapely calves and that the
purple blouse wasn't nearly as thick as the white one she had chosen.
Finally she came out in the green dress, she still looked good to
him, despite the dress coming down to mid-calf and having full
sleeves. In each case he nodded his approval when she looked at him.

“Good then, we'll grab the other
things I need and then get some groceries and head home?”

“We can stop at your bank after
we put the groceries away if you like but I'm starting to feel a
little strain in my back so that will probably end our outside
adventures for the day.”

“Did you bring your painkillers
with you?”

“Yes, well I brought two of them
anyhow. I'll grab a bottle of water on the way out and take them
then. I just don't want to strain my back more so I'm trying to be
cautious.”

They headed off and found her two packs
of t-shirts. Each had a multicolor assortment and she ended up with
four different colors between the two packs.

“Umm, maybe you could go get that
bottle of water now? Sorry but I think I'd be a bit embarrassed
asking your opinion on my other necessaries.”

“Well, we should get you another
pair of shoes or two. Plus we still need to pick up a couple of
outfits for Jack. Why don't we do that first?”

Margaret picked out two pairs of
sneakers, one for her and one for Jack. She claimed that the loafers
she was wearing would be adequate for any of the clothes she had just
gotten. She also grabbed a few pairs of socks. After that she claimed
that she was set for herself except for the things she'd prefer to
get by herself. They headed to the boy's section next. In the boy's
section it was quick and easy, she knew just what Jack would like, or
so she said, and made her decisions based on that. Maybe ten minutes
after they got to the boys section she was done with selections for
Jack.

“Okay, now you can get your water
and take your pills. I'll go pick out the rest of what I need.”

“Okay, meet me up near register
one when you get them picked out. That register is right near the
grocery area and we can run through the grocery list once we're both
up there.”

“I can do that.”

Greg headed up towards the front of the
store and purchased himself a bottle of water. He took his pills and
downed the water. Then he settled in to wait. He ended up waiting for
a little while longer than he thought she would take.

Margaret met Greg at checkout aisle
number one. He tried to figure out what it was that was different
about her. Finally he determined what he thought it was, she still
wasn't smiling but she looked like she might actually be happy, or
close to it at least. A glance in the cart showed him that she was
still shy about her underclothes. They were not on top of the pile of
clothing so she must have tucked them underneath the other clothes.

Greg found that grocery shopping with
Margaret was fast and easy. If it wasn't on the list, she didn't
even look at it. The couple of times he was distracted by an item or
a sale, she quickly got him back on track. As she put it:

“If you had needed it, you'd know
that you did. Since you didn't already know that you needed it,
you're just being distracted by advertising. They want you to throw
more money at them but you don't have to if you plan out your list in
advance. The only things I normally look at that aren't on my list
are meat and produce discounts marked down because their expiration
date is close, and their clearance rack if they have one.”

Greg looked appropriately scolded and
then kept his attention on Margaret herself through the rest of the
grocery aisles.