Brave the Supermarket

Jeb was a regular guy, he had a desk job, lived in a modest apartment, and enjoyed microwavable meals for dinner. His life had always been predictable; friends always knew when he was available to go get drinks, or something else they had to talk him into doing. He worked nine to five, Monday through Friday and always had major holidays off-one of the perks of working for the state: consistency. Jeb loved that his life had so much structure to it, he reveled in knowing exactly what he would be doing months from now. It always brought a smile to his face when someone would ask him if he was available months down the road, Jeb always knew the answer.

Today was no different, Jeb thought as he happily sat in his cubical at work. Today was filing day, Wednesday, and even though it was only four hours into his shift he was just about done with his work for the day. With an euphoric sigh escaping his lips, a knock is heard at his cubicle entryway. Jeb swiveled in his office chair, finding his work neighbor standing in his doorway.

“Hey Jeb.” Martin exclaimed with zero expression on his face.

“Hey! Having another bad day?” Jeb tried to frown in sympathy but it didn’t work, he just couldn’t keep the smile off of his face.

“Uh, yeah you could say that again.” Martin rubbed the back of his neck as his eyes looked down at his feet. “Look, I hate to ask, but could you maybe...?” Martin looked back up at Jeb, expectantly. Jeb knew exactly what Martin was trying to ask, again.

“Say no more, I’m almost done with my filing anyway. What does the big, boss-man have you doing this time?” Jeb asked as he stood up from his desk. Martin groaned, leaning his head forward in contempt briefly before bringing it back up to meet Jeb.

“Oh, god. She wants me to run for her dry cleaning again, I feel like a damn lap dog the way I always give into her. I can’t say no Jeb! I just can’t!” Martin’s eyes go wide as he roughly runs his hands through his dark hair, clearly stressed. Jeb puts his hands on his shoulders, trying to make him focus.

“Hey, you’ll be fine. I’ll do your filing for you and she won’t know the difference.” Jeb waves a hand through the air like he’s waving a magic wand, “I can make all your problems disappear, Martin.” Martin looked at him.

“If you weren’t my friend, I’d be really creeped out by your smiling right now. Dude, do you ever stop smiling?” He raised an eyebrow at Jeb, his lips becoming a line. Jeb removed his hands from Martin, holding them up in the air for a moment as he talked.

“I’m just having a good day. Plus, I don’t have to help you, you know.” Jeb sits back down in his chair, getting ready to turn back around as if Martin wasn’t there anymore, “I mean,” He spoke slowly, “I do have my own filing to finish.” Jeb smirked at Martin, knowing full well how he would react to his words.

“Wait!” Martin says suddenly, his eyes big and his body suddenly animated with the threat of no help being dangled in front of him. “I’m sorry. Please Jeb, will you finish my filing for me while I run errands for the she-devil?” he looked like he was two seconds away from getting on his knees and begging, and Jeb would have been lying if he said he didn’t like the image of Martin doing just that. Jeb waited a moment or so before he replied to Martin, enjoying his borderline desperation.

“Yes, alright. Of course, I’ll help you.” Jeb shrugged from his chair, still smirking. Martin let out a loud breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding in.

“Oh, thank god. Ok, I gotta go. She gave me so much more to do than just pick up her dry cleaning, wish me luck.” Martin walked away with those being his parting words. Jeb gave a little wave and immediately went back to work. After all, now he had double the amount to finish, and with how many times he’d already done Martin’s filing for him, he knew it would take him longer...Martin was the most unorganized office worker Jeb had ever met in his ten plus years of working for the state.

Soon it was the end of Jeb’s work shift, and he was ready to go home and enjoy the Stouffer’s Salisbury Steak that was patiently awaiting him in his freezer. With his briefcase packed, his jacket slung over his arm, and car keys in hand he was ready to clock out and head homeward. He exchanged waves and pleasantries with other coworkers as he walked through the building, smiling but not letting it reach his eyes. Though he loved being at home, Jeb preferred to be at work pushing paper work or denying people’s files for advancement. Everything was simple at work, but at home the loneliness made things complicated. Jeb shook his head; his thoughts were wandering and he didn’t like the direction they were headed. No more, he thought as he stepped into an elevator.

The tune playing in the elevator was catchy and he knew he had heard it somewhere before as he hummed along, waiting for the doors to open and let him off. Suddenly the elevator came to a slow stop. Jeb thought he had reached the floor he wanted but looking up at the illuminated number he stood corrected. The elevator was stuck on the third floor according to the elevator; Jeb raised an eyebrow and huffed as he quickly pressed the ground floor button multiple times. He remained stationary. In the middle of a loud groan the lights flickered, and reality suddenly crashed down on Jeb’s conscious. What if I’m stuck here overnight? What if no one notices I’m gone? What if my Salisbury Steak is freezer burnt?! He took a deep, calming breath. Jeb knew he needed to calm down; his Salisbury Steak wasn’t freezer burnt, he bought it last weekend.

He clapped his hands together as the light flickered again in the elevator. In that brief moment it felt as though time slowed down and everything became slow motion for just a single second. Jeb didn’t have the discipline within his mind to notice the slowing of time in that brief moment, and soon after, the elevator restarted and continued its descent down to the ground floor. Jeb’s worries about his microwavable steak were now a distant memory in the back of his mind, as he made his way to his vehicle.

While unusually fumbling with his keys, Jeb’s cell phone began buzzing in his back pocket. Becoming slightly agitated with the interruptions he was currently receiving, Jeb let go of his briefcase and coat, letting them drop to the concrete of the parking garage. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and flipped it open, holding the phone up to his ear.

“Yes, hello?” he asked. There was a small crackling sound on the other end of the line before a voice could be heard, responding.

“Hello, yes. Is this Jeb Fitzgibbons?” The voice was female.

“Yes, this is he. Who’s calling?” Jeb hadn’t recognized the number.

“Oh, wonderful.” The voice drew out ‘wonderful’ syllable by syllable, as if they had been desperately trying to be seductive. Jeb’s metaphorical feathers were thoroughly ruffled by this point, and he was quickly losing his patience. “It’s your boss, Mary. Look I need you to do a few things for me, as I’m currently unable to do so.” She drawled.

“Give me one good reason why I should do absolutely anything for you right now, because I thought you already had Martin running after your every whim.” Jeb responded, all his courtesy was currently out the window. He heard Mary let out a low chuckle on the other end of the line as he unlocked his car.

“Fitzgibbons, you’re going to listen to me and listen to me closely. Now get in your stupid, little car before I tell you what it is I need your sorry ass to do for me.” Her voice became low, and Jeb cockiness evaporated at her words. How did she know he was standing outside of his car? This wasn’t his normal time frame; normally, he’d already be pulling into his apartment driveway by now.

Jeb tossed his briefcase in the backseat along with his coat as he climbed in his car, as instructed.

“Ok, I’m in my car. Now what?” He asked, deflated.

“Shut the door too, I’m not stupid you know.” She exclaimed in his ear. Jeb shut the door of his car audibly. “Great. I need to you to go to the supermarket.” Jeb’s anger returned like a flip of a switch.

“What?! All this for a stupid trip to the supermarket? You’ve got to be kidding me right now...” He all but yelled into his flip phone. He heard a deep chuckle come from the other end. Jeb let out a sigh as Mary told him all of the things she needed from the grocery store, he wrote down all the items quickly on a pad of paper he kept in his vehicle.

“Ok, I think I got everything written down. I’ll head to your place right after.” Jeb told her.

"Wonderful,” She drawled again, “See you then Jeb.” She hung up the phone on her end and Jeb soon heard a dial tone. Snapping his phone closed, Jeb put the keys in the ignition and took off towards the nearest supermarket.

Pulling to a stop in a near empty parking lot, Jeb got out of his car finally realizing that it was unusually dark outside. He shrugged it off, walking into the store after grabbing a shopping cart. He made his way to the produce section, glancing at his miscellaneous list. She wants some weird items, he thought. Tin foil, sunglasses, raw salmon (not farmed), jumper cables... The list went on. Not needing anything from the produce area, Jeb made his way to the seafood department to pick up the raw salmon.

No one else seemed to be around, the store was quiet except for the music playing through the overhead speakers. Again, there was that familiar tune that Jeb couldn’t quite place, but he hummed along nonetheless. $16.95 for a package of wild caught salmon? Dear lord...I better be getting reimbursed for this trip. He moved his head from side to side disapprovingly, as he moved onto the next item on the list.

In the midst of shopping, a florescent light above Jeb’s head flickered just like the lights in the elevator had. Jeb looked up at the light still flickering; his mother always said not to stare straight into lights or the sun, it was bad for his eyes but he couldn’t look away. And as he was captivated once again by the flickering lights, time slowed unbeknownst to Jeb. It was as if absolute zero was in sight, but no one knew. Just as quickly as a flickering light, time resumed once more and Jeb’s eyes were back in the game. He quickly walked through the store, grabbing everything that was on Mary’s list; finally done, he made his way towards the registers but something caught his eye. He stopped and turned around.

Standing in the frozen section by the bagged vegetables, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Jeb blinked hard, trying to get rid of the revolting image in front of him. The freezer mechanism didn’t seem to be on, because the food inside was spoiled. Bags had been eaten through by various insects and grubs that were crawling in and out. Horse flies buzzing everywhere...Everything was out of whack, Jeb cringed gazing on at the scene unable to look away. He blinked again and the grotesque image before him was gone. Confusion swept over Jeb, the frozen section was fine again. The freezer was running, there were no tears in any of the bags, and there were definitely no flies or grubs crawling over all of the food either.

Wishing and hoping that he was simply tired, Jeb made his way to the front of the store to check out. The intercom beeped before he had the chance to make it two steps forward, a clearing of the throat was heard before an employee spoke.

“Would the gentleman who’s been standing in aisle four for the past hour please come to the front of the store to check out. It is 11 pm and we’re closed.” The intercom clicked and the music returned.

He looked up towards the closest intercom with a frown as if the person who talked could see his discontent with the page. An hour? That wasn’t an hour that Jeb had spent there staring at the awful image on insects. Was it? Jeb looked at his watch, the face said it was 11:02 pm. That didn’t make any sense; Jeb got off work at five pm, the elevator hadn’t delayed him that long...had it? No, that’s preposterous. He would have known whether or not he’d spent four hours inside an elevator...wouldn’t he? Quickly, Jeb check out the items for Mary at the only cash register open and left with an apology.

Getting back into his car with the miscellaneous groceries safely in his trunk, Jeb took off towards Mary’s fancy condo. Pulling up to her house, he put his vehicle in park, locked the doors and went around to the trunk to pull out the groceries. With his arms full of heavy, plastic bags, Jeb made his way up the small number of stairs until he was able to bang on the front door. He waited. After what seemed like an eternity to him, the double doors were opened, and Jeb burst inside heading straight for the kitchen. He knew the way to her kitchen; how he knew this piece of information he wasn’t sure, but Jeb just shrugged it off. Today had been a weird day for him. Making it to the island counter, Jeb let go off all the bags in relief. He let out a happy sigh, leaning against the counter for a moment. The sounds of footsteps took Jeb out of his momentary relief. He looked up.

There was Mary standing the doorway to her kitchen. Jeb hadn’t bothered to really look at her until now; she was wearing some sort of silky-looking fabric, a short nightie that showed off her long legs, and her hair was down for once-rather than being tied up in a tight bun. Mary looked Jeb up and down visibly, a creepy smirk playing at the edges of her lips. Her stare made Jeb feel a bit uncomfortable, and he resisted the urge to squirm.

“He-, Hey Mary.” He began. She took a step forward.

“Well, hello Jeb. Thank you for doing this for me.” There was that odd, deep, sensual voice of her again, grating against his ears.

“Oh, well,” Jeb shrugged, “It’s no problem, I guess.” She walked closer to him. He tried to back up, but his back was already against the counter. “Could you back off please?” Jeb asked her as she made her way to stand directly in front of him.

“What? Don’t tell me your scared, Fitzgibbons.” She frowned at him, her plump bottom lip becoming bigger. “Come now, don’t be like that. We’ve known each other for over a year now, I can’t be that much of a stranger to you... Am I?” Mary gazed deeply into Jeb’s eyes, and Jeb couldn’t look away. In that moment something unusual surged through Jeb, and he found the strength to look away from her and push her away from him. Jeb quickly moved away from the kitchen island, looking at Mary who was beginning to look angry at him.

“What’s your problem? Huh?” Jeb gave her a confused look. “You’ve never shown an interest in me before now, what gives?” Mary hesitates for a moment for regaining her composure.

“Oh, Jeb... Simple, organized, Jeb.” She drawled, moving closer to him again. “You have no idea how valuable you are to me.” Mary grabs Jeb by his chin, staring into his eyes again. “Now, look at me.” Her voice became forceful and Jeb became locked into her gaze once more.

“What- what are you doing to me?” Jeb asked as he began to feel a sharp prodding within his skull. He winced audibly, not being able to fully move. Mary smiled deviously at him.

“Shh, don’t worry about the pain. Pain, is completely normal, Jeb.” She stared harder into Jeb’s eyes-if that was physically possible at this point. Jeb felt her other arm wrap around the back of his waist, he wondered why she was doing this and what in the world could be happening right now. He didn’t fully understand what she was doing, and he was officially scared at this point.

“Let me go.” Jeb ground out; even his jaw was beginning to lock up. “What’s happening to me?” She replied quietly, calmly, content...

“The same thing I did to Martin.” She paused, “But this time it is much more satisfying.” Mary let out a moan, her eyes closing briefly as her hand moved to fully try and cover Jeb’s mouth.

At this point, Jeb couldn’t move at all and he was terrified down to his core. With a blinding light of pain ripping through his skull he couldn’t keep his thoughts straight. He felt himself becoming weaker, and weaker, unable to fight back anymore. The pain in his brain would subside if he let his anger go-if he gave up-but he quickly realized that the pain meant Jeb was fighting her. That’s exactly what Jeb decided to do: fight back. He wanted to live, though he had very little to live for in the first place. There’s always possibility, right? Everyone has potential, whether they realize it or not, correct? Jeb wasn’t sure, but soon he began to see the fruition of his counterattack against Mary’s assault on his subconscious.

Mary made a whimpering sound and not one of pleasure like it had been before, that’s when Jeb knew he was doing the correct thing. He thought harder. He thought of all the things he could do after this, all the places he could visit, he thought of all his friends... God, Jeb thought. All the things I missed out on with my friends. I wonder if they still even want to be my friend still. With that thought it was as though Mary had gained a step back into Jeb’s conscious and she knew it too. Jeb opened his eyes, but he could no longer see anything in front of him, just blackness. This wasn’t good. He heard a low laugh close to him.

“This is it Jeb. It’s almost over, then you’ll be with your friend Martin... Wherever that is exactly.” It was Mary speaking, of course, but her voice was more distorted than normal. Jeb had never been more terrified in his life, but he fought, and he fought hard. This was the pivotal moment, live or die. Jeb wanted to live, this much he knew.

And as Jeb fought back, he felt pain beyond his wildest imagination, it was as though a bright white light was slowly taking over him; then he saw the blinding light slowly take over Mary and eventually it took over the surrounding room, until all he could see was nothing but white. White light everywhere.

Suddenly Jeb heard a faint voice, the voice slowly growing louder and louder with each word spoken.

“Jeb... Hey Jeb? Jeb are you OK?” Jeb blinked and looked around, the blinding white light slowly fading away to reveal his surroundings. “Jeb speak to me man. Do you need water?” Jeb then heard another voice as his vision continued to come back to him.

“Should we call an ambulance for him?” A female voice asked. Jeb took a deep breath in, gulping down air like he hadn’t breathed in days. Slowly Jeb’s vision came back into focus.

“Wh-What happened?” Jeb asked weakly. He looked around, realizing he was sitting in his office chair at work. He hadn’t left? This didn’t make any sense to Jeb, he was officially confused, and he felt cold.

“He’s broke out into a cold sweat, somebody call 911.” The female voice said again. Jeb saw Martin crouch down next to him.

“You passed out when I knocked on your cubical, Jeb. Look, someone’s called 911 and the ambulance is on its way now. You’re going to be fine.” Martin told him calmly.

“But I don’t understand... We talked. I was going to finish your filing because Mary asked you to run a bunch of errands...” Jeb trailed off, trying to calm his breathing. Martin raised an eyebrow at him.

“Jeb, who’s Mary?”

FIN