Post Brynn Blues

Your aunt was decidedly less peppy after seeing Brynn off at the airport gate. She sat in silence until about the halfway point of the drive back to the apartment.

“Let’s make a stop at the mall,” suggested your aunt. You saw the big blue sign of said mall’s parking lot up ahead and nodded.

“Alright. I think most of the shops are closing soon though.”

“Yeah. I just need some chocolate,” she replied with a sigh. Sympathetic to her plight you nodded again, pulling into the half empty lot and finding a spot right by the main entrance. “Hmmm,” went Leslie as she stepped out of the car.

“Something wrong?” you asked your aunt, watching as she turned the opposite direction to where her favorite chocolate shop was. She stared into the distance for a few seconds before turning to you and smiling.

“No,” she said, her teeth now showing in a grin. There was, you thought, a flash of deviousness to it but her expression softened. “I need to go make a quick stop. Can you get the chocolate for me?” Belaying your suspicions for the time being you shrugged your assent. “Great. You know which kind I like. I’ll meet you back at the car?” finished your aunt. She barely waited for you to nod before walking briskly away to go buy whatever else it was she wanted to buy and you went to fulfill her other request.

Your aunt was back at the car before you and she had about three medium sized, rectangular shopping bags that looked like they were from three different fashion boutiques. Leslie was apparently a fast shopper. She took the small bag from your own hands and peeked inside, seeing the brand of dark chocolate she loved and thanking you with a soft smile. “Perfect,” she added, as she got into the passenger side.

The ride home was a little less somber, the topic of the latest critically acclaimed comicbook movie raised by a local radio station giving you and your aunt an excuse to talk about what sort of movies you both liked and disliked.

“I can’t decide if Nicolas Cage is a genius or just insane,” she said when you pulled up to her block.

“There may be a high level of overlap there,” you suggested.