FLESH

The butchery counter was busy, as it always was on a Saturday morning after 10:00. It was also the least desirable time Samuel Connor could conceive of being in a supermarket, yet there he stood, queued behind a gaggle of indecisive pensioners who were scrutinising the colour of every joint of meat on display.

Running a strength training gym was a damned good business in that village, but it was also a labour of love for Samuel– He accepted the sacrifices of being open from morning until night. Missing out on the local butcher's opening hours was ironically one of those sacrifices - good quality meat was what he needed but he rarely had a chance to get there before closing..

And so, there he was instead - at Garrett's supermarket with its emulated butcher style meat counter and God knows how old "Finest Beef" joints on special offer.

After finally settling for a few slices of ham, the group of pensioners finally shuffled off.

"Good morning" came a soft and welcoming American accent. "What can I get for you?"

Samuel stepped forwards and looked straight ahead. A new assistant, whom he had previously observed only from a distance, stood before him in a pseudo-butcher’s outfit and an imitation straw boater. From his towering height, he could see the flat weave of the hat’s crown, but not her face.

"Good morning to you, too," he replied with a curious inflection—his voice a rich baritone.

"What would you recommend?" he asked, already sensing she wouldn't have an answer.

"Erm. Well…" She hesitated, her eyes flickering down toward the glass-fronted display.

"I’m kinda new here. This morning was my first time on my own, so… I’m not really sure."

She bit her bottom lip with uncertainty but Samuel let out a light, reassuring chuckle.

"I’m only teasing you. I saw you being trained last week. My name is Samuel—and yours?"

The woman looked up to meet his gaze. The height disparity was immediate and jarring; she was barely five-foot-three, leaving him standing well over a foot above her eyeline.

"Oh," she breathed, an audible punctuation of her surprise at his stature. "I’m, erm… I’m Valerie."

As she caught his line of sight, her irises flashed a deep, warm caramel under the glow of the overhead fluorescent lights. The peak of the boater hat perfectly framed her dark eyebrows and thick lashes. Her cheekbones were prominent, though softened by the youthful roundness of her face.

Samuel couldn't help but maintain eye-contact a beat longer than necessary. Her skin was unfairly flawless and lightly brown but he could also see that she was much younger than he was.

Valerie was barely twenty-four and he had celebrated his forty-fourth birthday only a week prior. He snapped out of his day-dream and back to conversation.

Despite second-guessing his own observation, Valerie seemed to be in her own world.

His presence was quite overwhelming, especially in contrast to the customers she had met so far. Her line of sight was unfocussed as she stared at him but she made a poor effort of trying to hide it.

Extremely broad shoulders, thick full arms. Like a huge slab of muscle but with a person somehow attached.

"Valerie—do you need some help?" Another man's voice came from further aback, close to the fridge cabinets, a man who could see Valerie's apparent stillness in front of a customer.

"Oh, gosh, I think I'm okay," she replied over her shoulder.

"Alright, big man?" came the same voice from the cabinets. Valerie's manager, Ryan Cook, didn't pay attention to her reply but came striding forwards into view, then stood by her shoulder, beaming a smile directly to Samuel.

"I am indeed, Ryan. Finally got somebody with good customer service, I see."

Valerie looked at her manager, then back to Samuel. The two men were clearly well acquainted, to both her relief but also the anticlimax of Samuel's broken attention.

Ryan chuckled. "She's alright, is Val. Just came over from America a couple of weeks back, didn't you, love?" He flashed a passive smile at her before adding, "Hey, Samuel! Guess what? Weighed in this morning mate, and I'm almost two stone down from January. Your program is working well. This one here said she's a bit self-conscious." He thumbed towards her as if she wasn't listening, before adding more quietly, "Maybe have a word, eh?"

Ryan winked and smiled at him again. "Right, I'll catch you later," he said, before scuttling off behind the chillers and out of sight.

"Oh, Geez." Valerie's expression was one of embarrassed hope that the ground might swallow her up.

"Never been one for tact," Samuel told her. "You don't need to be shy with me," he added. "He means well, even if he doesn't always think before speaking."

"I'll make my order easy for you. I'll take…" No sooner was he ready to choose, that an older, gravelly voice overspoke him.

"Excuse me, young lady. I asked for one hundred grams of breaded ham. You have given, erm, er, you have given me 'shredded ham', you see?" One from the elderly party who were before Samuel at the counter, held up the floppy, plastic taped packet.

Valerie, once again bit her lip.

"Hello Derek," Samuel said. He spun on his heel and faced the old man who squinted to study Samuel's face.

"Oh, hello Sammy. I haven't seen you for years. Your mum keeping alright?"

"Mum passed away, Derek. You were at her funeral…"

"Oh yes, so I was, so I was. Er." And with that, Derek turned away once again, unsure of why he had returned. Samuel watched him shuffle off, picking up random jars before tutting and moving away into the distance.

"So, do you know everybody?" Valerie asked with a curious grin.

"Almost. I grew up in this village. Difficult to escape a population of a couple of thousand. That said, I don't know you…"

"Err," Valerie half paused trying to muster a reply. Words were on the tip of her tongue but after Ryan's discussion, she was hesitant to say much more.

"Fear not, young Valerie" Samuel spoke with a mock knight's accent "For I shall finally ease your stress with my order." He pointed at the chickens on display in the centre cabinet, "Seven of those please, m'lady!"

She involuntarily giggled "Yes, Sir!"

One by one, she covered them with the film wrap and a barcode before placing them side by side on the top of the counter.

"Y'know, you could get to know me." Her voice was somewhat quieter.

Valerie had just blurted out a statement that she had never considered herself capable of.

Having an anxious demeanour was a standard day for her and especially with her first official day working alone. But her morning interaction with this bigger, mature man somehow put her at ease. Perhaps too much so.

"I'd like that, Valerie." Samuel paused with one of the chickens in his hand. Large free-range didn't look so large in his huge hands. "I shut my business at 9pm on Fridays and get here before closing time, will you be here?"

She giggled once again. "Kinda. I do work here Friday through to 10pm but over there instead"

She pointed to the cake counter. "Much more my thing. Sugar."

He bent down and stacked the chickens into his wheeled floor basket, then stood up straight to full height. "I'll see you there then, Sugar," before adding "Good luck with the meat" and winking goodbye.