@Patrick - A Short Story

Every weekend, today was the day she dreaded but also the day she waited for all week. The day itself was a just a typical Saturday morning to most, but it gave her butterflies even though the anticipation never led to anything as remarkable as she would hope.

She was definitely, not your typical 25 year old, at least not in recent week. While most 25 year olds were waking up hung-over on Saturday mornings (most likely Saturday afternoons), Sage was out of the house doing errands for her neighbour. It had been a couple years since she’d bought a bungalow in a quaint neighbourhood in the suburbs of Minneapolis but getting to know her neighbours was never something Sage sought out to do. 

On a warm September day, Sage was taking in the garbage bins after the trucks had passed and herd a thud. She looked around and quickly noticed that the older widow who lived across the street had fallen down her front steps, left laying on the ground. Sage had carried her into her car and driven her neighbour to the hospital. From that day on, Sage was adamant to see Mrs. Wilson through her recovery which included an ankle sprain and mild blurry vision. As a result, Sage went out early Saturday mornings to get Mrs. Wilson her groceries before she woke up. As a thank you, Sage would be gifted an incredible home-cooked breakfast every Saturday morning by her new favourite neighbour.

Although the free breakfast was definitely something to look forward to every weekend, Sage actually looked forward to hitting the produce isles at the grocery store. Not because she loved cabbage or mushrooms, but because of Patrick. Although some may react to her encounters with Patrick as walking the line of stalker behaviour, that wasn’t at all accurate. Sage would turn a corner out of the pasta isle and boom, there he was bagging groceries for another customer. Sage would pick up a pastry at the bakery and bam, Patrick would be dropping off a delivery to the chef behind the counter. Even as she was leaving, Sage would be dropping off her shopping cart into the little cart houses between parking spots and there was Patrick collecting the carts to bring back into the store. 

None of these events ever led to Sage and Patrick exchanging more than a “thanks” or “morning”, but at first glance, then second, third and definitely fourth, Sage wondered if fate was trying to tell her something. But as soon as the idea popped into her head, she retracted. Her entire young adult life, she’d overthink about everything and anyone she encountered, and it led her here: living alone waking up at the crack of dawn to get groceries for an old lady with whom she’d later have breakfast with and watch Good Morning Minneapolis.

As much as she wanted to make the first move, Sage had experienced rejection after rejection, and she just didn’t want to go through the pain again. Afterall, if she did get rejected, she would have to keep seeing Patrick every weekend. He worked at the only grocery store within a 10km radius and the embarrassment would be unbearable. Sage thought to herself that he could be just another pretty face with zero personality, like many guys she had met over the years. Even worse, he could be 17 which, well, is its own issue all-together. The cons outweighed the pros, and Sage figured it was best to leave him be. 

No matter the outcome, it was fun to have a crush. It had been years since she’d genuinely had a crush on someone. When her parents called on the occasional weekend and nonchalantly asked “So, who do you have your eyes on lately?!”, she had to brush them off as casually as possible. They probably thought that she was hiding something and didn’t want to tell her parents about she guy was secretly dating, but in reality, she really didn’t have anyone, which made Sage feel even more sorry for herself. Not only had she not been with anyone for years, but she hadn’t even had a prospect in as many years! Outsiders would consider that sad, and so did Sage. So simply having a crush was suitable for now.

No one would get hurt, or disappointed and honestly, she loved she anticipation of seeing him every weekend and trying, but not really, to avoid eye contact with him from across the produce isle. Maybe one day he’d make the first move and maybe one day they’d actually be friends, or more than that, and maybe it would turn into this incredible love story she could tell all her friends and family at their wedding. Maybe, one day. Until then, Sage still went to pick up a handful of kiwis and apricot juice for Mrs. Wilson, then stopped at the gas station for a car wash before heading back home for breakfast then trimming the bed of roses or filling the birdfeeder in her garden, as she did every Saturday morning.

It was the butterflies when they made eye contact that made her day. In a perfect world he would sweep her off her feet, but this isn't a perfect world. People get hurt, people get their hearts broken, people disappoint people, so having a harmless crush helped Sage get out of bed in mornings and gave her something to look forward to. For as long as he worked those 7am shifts at the grocery store, Patrick meant everything to her, and maybe, just maybe, she was everything to him.