Mercedes Five and Dime Who: Isobel & Nish. What: Two Pax residents run into each other at a local Whole Foods. Where: Whole Foods. When: Early evening.
Making a mental note that she wanted a garden at their next apartment (or house, she amended, the idea of thinking about the future making her stomach flip-flop), Isobel made a quick pit stop at a nearby Whole Foods after work in order to pick up some tomatoes and spinach for a meal she was planning later that week. She had mixed feelings about using her plant nursery as her own produce section, and as much as she trusted this grocery chain to have better materials, she just felt better about growing her own fruits and vegetables. Then she'd know exactly where they were from, who'd touched them, what hadn't been involved in their development. She intended the trip to be a quick one, grabbing one of the small green tote baskets as she entered the store and slipping it over her arm.
Just as she was coming around the cheese and meat sections, her brow furrowed as she noted someone who looked so familiar. In fact, Isobel was fairly certain she'd seen the woman at the Pax apartment housewarming event, but she lingered near the bananas for a moment as she screwed up the courage to bother her. Finally added one of the yellow fruits to her basket after feeling guilty that she was going to waste so much time over them and not take something, she moved over and told herself, just do it.
"Um, hi," she interceded, her words a touch too low in volume to be heard. "I mean, hi. I think...do you live at Pax Letale?"
Nish had been contemplating fruit when she heard someone next to her. She turned and saw a somewhat familiar woman standing there with a half-full basket on one arm. “Yeah,” she said with a pleasant smile, shifting her own basket to her other arm so she could shake the woman’s hand. “Nishka, 502. I think I’ve seen you around...were you at the party?” she hadn’t been really paying attention to anyone else in the room, to be honest, besides Chris and Daniel. And Rafe.
Isobel's relieved smile spread across her face. "I was! Isobel, D3," she replied, offering her hand for Nish's.
"It was nice, don't you think? Better food than I was expecting, and a great opportunity to meet other faces that I'd otherwise have such a small chance of seeing. I'm sorry we missed each other; am I interrupting your shopping? I don't want to be a bother."
Nish grinned to herself and chuckled softly. Great food? She’d barely had any of it. She’d been too busy fucking up her friendships. “Yeah,” she agreed, not about to get into that with someone she’d just met. But then she was suddenly shaking her head. “No, no, it’s alright,” she said, oddly wanting to make the woman feel at ease. Usually if a stranger stopped her for no reason she’d answer in curt tones and move on. She told herself it was because they were in the same building; she didn’t want to alienate anyone there, since they all had to live together, so to speak.
“I was just thinking about some fruit, though I can’t really decide. My mother drilled into me at a young age that I have to eat fruit, but I don’t have much of a sweet tooth.” It was definitely more information than she would usually share with a stranger, but she told herself she was just being polite.
"Well," Isobel replied, her eyes raking over the choices at hand. She felt happy to be able to help with what seemed like such a simple decision. "There's always pineapple or granny smith apples. They're both a little more tart than your usual fruit. Or maybe some vegetables might be more up your alley? You could always lightly saute them with some olive oil, salt and pepper. That's what spices are for. Do you have a recipe in mind?"
She looked down at her options, chewing on her lip with indecision. “I’m not really sure,” she said with a shrug, “I tend to eat mostly vegetables anyway, but I have to practically force myself to eat fruit. I like raspberries and cherries, they’re tart, but they aren’t in season,” she said with a shrug. She had the usual in her basket already - celery, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, kale. She’d been almost done in the produce aisle before forcing herself over to look at the fruit.
"What about dried raspberries? There's an aisle over near the checkout that has a lot of dried fruit. It's really good for a snack, and it lasts a lot longer than regular fruit. Berries go bad so quickly!" Nish’s eyebrows rose slightly at the idea...that did sound good…
She took a step to the side, helping herself to the tomato display. One large beefeater tomato and she was set. "I run a small plant nursery, so when they do come in season, I'd be happy to help you out. We don't do a lot of fruits and vegetables, more display vegetation, but how's your green thumb? If you kept a raspberry bush you'd be set."
Nish chuckled at the idea of plants. “I’ve killed every plant I’ve ever tried to grow,” she admitted. “They just don’t like me, I think...the plants in my office are fake, it’s safer that way.” She wasn’t really into growing plants and gardens anyway, and they weren’t that into her either. It mutually beneficial that they stayed away from each other, except when they were in her salad.
Isobel did her best to not flinch; she understood that some people just found plastic plants easier, but the thought never failed to horrify her. Plants were so easy to care for, with only the proper time and attention. But she plastered a smile, albeit a small one, to her face regardless.
"Well, if you ever want some tips, I'd be happy to help. What is it that you do?"
She smiled pleasantly back at her, “I’m a lawyer in a private practice,” she said, not elaborating on what type of lawyer. There were often mixed reactions to the ‘I defend obvious criminals’ part of her job, though that wasn’t all she did. “I don’t think tips will really help me...I do everything the instructions say but they die anyway, and any plants I’ve had at home were destroyed by my cat.” She chuckled softly as if it was no big deal. Which it wasn’t, to her.
Isobel nodded sympathetically. "I had to train that out of Hanni," she replied. "Our dog. You'd think a pom wouldn't get into so much trouble, but..." She shrugged, smiling. "Still, cats aren't as trainable as dogs, or so it seems? But really, plants aren't all that difficult... Still, I have to imagine, your line of work, you're probably too busy to spend time making sure they get watered enough. I hope you get enough of a break to enjoy your apartment!"
“Yeah, Bear is about as trainable as a rock...in fact, I think he’s done a good job of training me.” She paused though, something the woman said sticking in her memory. “Hanni...that sounds familiar. Little black dog, looks like a puff ball with eyes?” As she recalled he was super cute, but her cat could eat him as an hors d'oeuvre.
The smile remained, though Isobel's brow furrowed. "Hah, yeah, I mean, most poms look like that. Except most are usually more of a...I guess peach color. You sound like you've seen him?"
Nish nodded, “yeah, I ran into him and...your husband?” she asked with a politely nervous questioning tone, “the other day when I was leaving for work.” She wasn’t sure, but you could never assume these days. She didn’t want to be rude and assume anything, but it seemed to her that if a man was walking a tiny fluffy dog that wasn’t his, it had to belong to his girlfriend or his wife.
"Fiancé," Isobel corrected, softly and gently. "Obed usually walks Hanni in the mornings. I hope he behaved himself. The dog, I mean," she added with half of a laugh. Nish laughed with her. "Obed is always polite, usually to a fault. Maybe we can have you over for dinner, one night? Or else I suppose we'll run into each other at any other apartment events."
Nish’s eyebrow raised just slightly. “I think I’d like that,” she said with a smile. She didn’t really have ‘friends’ per se, but she used to. She remembered what it was like when she was younger, to just hang out with someone with no ulterior motives, but the memory was dim and distant. The part of her that wasn’t grumbling in the back of her mind and complaining about how boring it sounded, liked the idea of trying to have friends again. The rest was giving her frantic hand signals to stop this and back away slowly.
"Great! Since we're both at Pax I'll be able to find you," Isobel replied, hefting her shopping basket from one side to the other. "I've got a few other things to grab, so I'll leave you to it. It was great chatting with you!" With that, she offered a little wave and stepped away, turning toward the greens section of the produce aisle.