Who: Rick Grimes rick & Clarke Griffin skaiprincess What: Random Encounter When: Sunday, July 5, midday Where: The Farmer's Market Rating: General Audiences Warnings: None I can think of at this time. Status: Closed/Completed GDoc for Partner Threads
~*~
Sundays were easier days at the Farmer's Market. Fewer people came out than on Fridays or Saturdays. Rick took Judith every Sunday. She could stay with Carl on busier days. The weather was usually real nice out in California which made it ideal to have her in her bouncy seat on top of the pay station table. People-watching was supposed to be good for babies. Something about making them more observant or more aware of the world. Rick had no problem letting people make faces at Judith or tease her with their car keys. As long as no one touched his daughter, he was right as rain.
He had been stacking empty crates to put back into his truck when a woman entered his stall. Young. Rick wasn't too surprised by that. Seemed a lot of younger people were interested in the Farmer's Market or eating organic than in the past. Could be it was a Western thing. California was another world compared to Georgia. His people would not have been too happy with him moving to Hippie Land as his father had called it, but his people weren't around any longer. All Rick had was his son, his daughter, and his own self to take on the challenge of living a good life in a world which didn't seem to be made up of anything good any longer.
"Anything in particular you're looking for, ma'am?"
Rick always found it was more helpful to say something than leave the customer wandering around the stall as if they weren't acknowledged whatsoever. Some of it was ingrained Southern hospitality while the rest was good business sense. He knew if a customer was treated well, they tended to treat him well in return. They could have their space to look as much as they like, but Rick could still make them feel welcome to ask for help or address him with any questions he had. He looked over to the counter at the sound of his daughter's laughter. She'd amused herself again by kicking off a sock, bouncing in the seat with one bare foot in the air for her to try to grab.
~*~
Babies weren't really appealing to Clarke, but even she could recognize how cute this one was and she smiled, first at the baby and then at the man who spoke.
She was adjusting to life in California. It was a lot different from Washington DC, but that was a big part of the appeal for her at this point. After losing her father under such mysterious circumstances, she needed a change of pace. Things were far more laid back out here. People weren't in such a hurry and people didn't seem to have hidden agendas about everything. That was a huge relief after growing up around the political arena.
"Nothing in particular," she said. "What's in season right now?"
***
"This is California. Basically everything is in season all year around."
Rick smiled as he straightened from pushing aside the empty boxes. He moved back to lean against the counter where Judith was bouncing. She could get excited easy; he was always afraid she'd bounce herself right on off. That would be his luck. Lori would have had a fit if she'd known what he was up to these days out in the Golden State. It wouldn't matter to her the products he grew were for terminally ill patients or could only be dispensed by licensed individuals. All she'd think is he'd turned in his badge to become a drug dealer.
Come to think on it, peddling his wares at the Farmer's Market was a little like dealing.
"I grow wholly organic. Presently for fruit, I've got four varieties of apples, two of pear, strawberries, cherries, and Valencia oranges. Vegetables I still have to hand today include asparagus, broccoli, kale, iceburg lettuce, and spinach. I also grow turnips and potatoes, but I'm sold out for today. Didn't bring in enough. I always have tomatoes, but they sold out real early this morning. Some college girls learning to can. Surprised me to be honest. I wasn't expecting that out here in California. I also usually have herbs, but we've been having a super heated spell which has caused some parching on them."
It was easy to talk about plants. Rick could handle talking about his garden with anyone. Personal things? He held those closer to the vest.
~*~
It would be nice to have such a variety of fresh food available in the middle of winter, Clarke realized. A lot different from Washington, where they had to pay exorbitant amounts to haul it from places like Florida and California where the weather was better year round.
"I'll take some spinach, asparagus, strawberries, pears, and oranges," she decided. She didn't want to buy more than she could reasonably use before they went bad, but the variety and farm freshness was far too appealing to pass up.
His remark about not expecting college girls to be interested in canning in California made her wonder if he wasn't from around here too. "Have you always been out here?" she asked.
***
Her assortment was enough to have a smile on Rick's face as he got a bag to start putting together her order. He used reuseable bags since they were in fashion as well as having free advertising. With his stall's name on it along with his contact number? It was easy to encourage repeat business. Many people became regular customers as a result of the free bags he provided.
Repeat business was the only way to stay in business.
"No, ma'am, I'm originally from Georgia. Brought my son and daughter out here after their mother passed to try to give us all a fresh start. Judith on the counter there. Carl's my boy. He's not with me today. I'm Rick Grimes. Yourself? What brings you to the OC?"
Rick avoided mentioning he'd brought his family on the word of a criminal informant. He felt that was information not nearly as comforting for others as it was amusing for himself. There were days when it was hard to explain his way of thinkings; the way he thought of his CI was something wholly different. He'd been a lucky man to have found someone good in the light of a world made up of so much bad.
~*~
"I'm sorry for your loss," Clarke said. The words were hollow and little comfort, she knew from personal experience, but she felt obligated to say them anyway. "My father passed a few years ago. A fresh start is generally a good idea."
Which was why she was in California now. At least partially. "I'm planning to attend UCI this fall to study Nursing," she explained. "I grew up in DC, but decided I was ready for a change."
If the produce she was buying tasted half as good as it looked, Clarke would definitely be a repeat customer.
***
Putting the two bags onto the counter beside Judith, Rick gestured for her to come closer, "I'll have you rung up in a second. I'm using this---app thing? It's new. For me. It ain't new for the rest of the world."
He started the painful process of poking each item, selecting the quantity, and adding it to the cart. The app would put it all into one order, Rick would get her name to add to his list of clients. The app tracked common orders for him to give him an idea of how much of each item to bring to market. Rick could have managed better if he knew more about the blasted thing.
Carl kept helping him. He was a good boy, but he could only teach an old dog so many new tricks before the dog gave up trying.
"Okay. What's your first name? I put you in here and it labels your cart. I push finish and it's supposed to give me a list of what you've ordered and a total including tax so I can print you an accurate receipt."
~*~
That was more high tech than she was expecting to find at a Farmer's Market. "Clarke," she replied. "Pretty fancy stuff."
It was pretty obvious watching him that technology wasn't a strong point, but she had to give him credit for doing his best to keep up with the advances and making them work for him. Clarke was glad she decided to stop by the Farmer's Market. She much preferred to support local farmers than to pick up her produce at a mega chain grocery store.
While he finished ringing up her order, she waggled her fingers and smiled at the baby.
***
Judith seemed as pleased as if she'd been offered her very favorite toy when the woman paid attention to her. Rick carefully clicked in each letter to spell out C-L-A-R-K. He hit the total button and grinned as it all came through to show him her final tally. The app worked well enough. He had a Square credit card reader hooked up to his iPhone. There were too few people who carried cash these days.
"I can run a credit card for you or I can take cash. Either way is all the same to me. Here's your total. You can look over it to make sure I've rung it up alright."
He offered her the phone to look at the app's totals, "You named after the explorer? Like Lewis and Clark?"
She had a strange name for a woman. Rick had learned people had strange names in California, but she wasn't from there. She was from Washington, DC, which was their nation's capital. It seems to make sense she'd have a name for a famous person from their nation's history. Could be she came from a different sort of folk than Rick was used to dealing with entirely.
All he knew was she was playing right nice with his baby girl and had showed him nothing more than courtesy which made her alright in his books.
~*~
Clarke glanced at the app, but wasn't the type of person who was going to scrutinize a receipt. Especially in a relaxed setting like this. She got her wallet out of her bag and pulled out some cash. "I have cash," she said, handing over enough to cover her total.
"Not that I know of," she said in response to his question about her name. "I never really asked my parents though." It was just her name and it never really seemed odd to her.
***
"Easy-going. I like that. I'm the same way. I've met a lot of strange names here. Nice folk though. For the most part. The bags have my number on them if you want to place a special order for pick-up and the stall address so you can always find me. I'm here every weekend. Feel free to look me up, Clarke. I appreciate a repeat customer, especially one who still believes in handling real money."
Rick gave her change to cover what she'd handed him along with a printout of the receipt which he slipped into one of the bags.
The day was winding down at the market. It'd been a good one. He hoped he saw the young woman around again. It was nice to meet people who were interested in kindness and helping others. Anyone who wanted to go into nursing? They had to be good folk as far as Rick knew. That wasn't the kind of profession one chose for the money.