My High School Crush…

Alan Lowenthal was very distracted as he walked up and down the aisles at the Super Store. He was thinking about a call he had just finished with one of his biggest clients ‘’Tobemorry Homes.’’ They were property developers and had just informed Alan that they would be slashing their Advertising budgets due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was the third client in the past couple of days, who either cancelled campaigns or dramatically cut spending. It was not a fun time, and Alan kept thinking about what he could do to increase his company’s revenue stream. He had been emphasizing digital advertising because of the number of people at home using their computers, but as one of his clients had said ‘’What’s the point of pushing our products if people can’t get them ?’’

Alan was looking at Pineapple jam when he accidentally backed into a woman. She was wearing a mask but there was something about her face and eyes that looked familiar. He was also wearing a mask so half his face was also covered. Through his mask he offered an apology, she nodded and moved on. As she walked away, Alan kept thinking he knew her and then went back to looking at the sugar content of jam.

He walked over to the cooler where the cream cheese was located when the woman he bumped into walked by him again. He kind of yelled out ‘’Excuse me, but I think I know you, I just don’t know where from.’’

She stopped and looked at him, and shook her head ‘’Uh, I uh went to school around here, and then I moved away for many years. Maybe I know you from High School. What’s your name?’’

Alan was mesmerized, he didn’t realize he was blocking people’s access to the cooler till a guy said ‘’Hey buddy, mind moving on I need stuff and I don’t want to spend the day listening to your boring conversation instead of getting my yogurt.’’

As Alan pushed his cart towards the mystery woman his mind raced. It was hard to form a complete picture of a person when there was only eyes to work with.

‘’My name’s Alan Lowenthal, I grew up here, went to Toronto, started a business, and moved back when my parents ran into some health issues. I decided to stay, and now with the Pandemic there’s nowhere else I want to go.’’

She pushed her cart a little closer. ‘’Hi Al, I thought it might be you. It’s me…