Chapter 134: Same Outlook

Aiden and Clarissa had spent the first half of their date simply walking through Central Park and taking in the sights, a relaxed mundanity to their actions.

There were no performative romantic gestures, and neither was there any unnecessary PDA.

Just two youths, walking hand in hand, and taking in the lush greenery of the lively park in late August whilst occasionally taking a picture or two when they felt it necessary.

The second half of their date, however, was a bit more intimate.

Not in the physical interaction kind of way, but in the way they shared their hopes and dreams for the future as they dined on the homemade meals Aiden had made.

Resting on a red picnic blanket, the tree above them shading them from the sun, Clarissa let out a satisfactory sigh as she gently patted her tummy, her head resting on Aiden’s lap;

"Ah~. I’m stuffed~,"

"Like a rotisserie chicken on a dining table." she added, her smile contented and her eyes closed.

That earned a light chuckle from her boyfriend who continuously ran his fingers through her hair, the action more subconscious than it was mindful.

Back propped against the trunk of the old oak tree they’d spread their blanket beneath, Aiden’s gaze seemed to be looking anywhere but the lively park in his field of view.

His thoughts had drifted far beyond his visual senses, his olive-green irises reflective. Likewise, his girlfriend remained as so, her thoughts meditative as well.

Then,

"Say, dear?" Aiden softly called out.

"Mmhmm?" Clarissa hummed a response, her eyes still shut.

"I know you’re not interested in pursuing big time stuff, but..." the youth pushed on, his tone gentle.

"What would you do if your career path takes you farther than you originally planned? You know, big opportunities? Stardom, perhaps?" he asked, a clear thoughtfulness to his voice.

"Some movies have a funny way of going viral, so things could change." he snapped a finger.

"In a heartbeat." he added.

"And you could realize, that maybe you do want more from it," he continued.

"It could be all be life changing, you know? Could get you really far and make you renown. Would you still want to steer clear of that big, complex yarn, if that was the case?" he angled his gaze down to face her.

By now, Clarissa’s eyes had long opened, her hazel-irises contemplative as the rays of the noon sun filtering through the tree leaves caught it just right and highlighted the flecks of green in them.

Gently patting her tummy, the lady soon replied, her honesty evident;

"I don’t know..."

"I mean, it hasn’t happened yet so it’s still up in the air and mostly hypothetical, but," she gestured briefly with both arms, each slowly falling to her sides.

"If I did decide to push further, I’d like to believe I’d inherently remain the same," she openly stated, her expression taking on a determined outlook as she locked eyes with her boyfriend.

"Perhaps more wizened, and maybe a bit more selfish..." she grinned lightly and did a little, sassy shoulder thing that honestly did things to Aiden he’d learnt to just accept as she declared;

"But yeah, whatever the case may be, I think my core traits would remain the same."

"Of that, I’m sure of." she definitively concluded.

To that, she looked to her boyfriend, her gaze seemingly throwing the question back to him.

In response;

"You’ll be glad to know that we share the same outlook, sugar plum."

"Ooh~! That’s a new one~! I like it!" Clarissa’s cheeks turned a rosy shade instead, her eyes creasing into soft slits.

Then she shamelessly requested, a pleasant glint to her irises;

"Could you call me that again, babe?"

"Sugar plum." Aiden repeated, clearly amused as he watched the lady wiggle in joy on the blanket, her smile widening by the minute.

"One more time?" she asked again as she sat up straight to face him with a glimmer to her eyes, clearly high on her emotions.

This time, Aiden let out a lighthearted laugh that rang clearly, the pleasant sound echoing through the park briefly and garnering the attention of a couple passers-by.

...

...

...

It was already late afternoon and the evening skyline was already bleeding in with a faint hue of orange by the time the couple decided to leave the park.

"Could we drop by the next convenience store? I need to get a couple things for my parents." Clarissa requested upon reading a text she had just gotten from her mum.

"Sure." Aiden replied simply, his eyes on the road.

Soon enough, he pulled up at the parking lot of the next one, he and the lady making their way into the establishment.

Casually trailing behind her, one hand in his pocket and the other holding a basket, Aiden’s gaze caught sight of the almost emptied section of Death Wish, the $1.49 price tag giving him a sense of relief.

Though retailers had been making up to 150% in profit from his original price point of $0.6, a lot of them hadn’t wanted to purchase his product when he bumped it up to $0.99.

That, clearly seemed to have been sorted out now that the product had gone viral.

In any case, the youth returned his attention drawn to his girl whose beautiful, butter-yellow sundress and jean jacket with a boater hat, looked notably out of place in the establishment that she was.

Clearly unperturbed by the stares she was getting, she simply moved to the grocery section and picked up all the things on the list her mum had requested for.

Soon enough, they arrived at the male deodorant section.

Watching as she skipped past all the popular deodorants, Clarissa picked four cans of a much older brand in the same category.

Fresh Tide.

Compared to all the others whose racks were almost empty, it remained notably untouched, with only a select few removed here and there.

That said, Aiden couldn’t help but remark with a sense of familiarity upon seeing that, his eyes lighting up;

"That’s the same spray and wash my Pops uses,"

"Granted my mum was the one who always used it and he just looted it as he pleased, he’s taken to getting it by himself for a long while now." Aiden let out a soft laugh.

An old memory had resurfaced in his mind--one of mother calling out his Pops for using the entire thing for the umpteenth time.

"Funny. It’s the same thing with my mum," Clarissa chuckled as she placed the cans into the basket.

"She buys it, and my dad just uses it. She got tired of having to share it with him all the time so she simply decided to get four cans every time she went out to restock." the lady remarked as they both made their way to the cashier.

"Wonder why that is..." Aiden audibly contemplated, his smile amused.

"I mean asides it’s refreshing, clean, ocean-like scent. Not everyone likes the whole choking, masculine deodorants that’s populating the market these days." he added with a slight tilt of his head.

"Babe, you do realize that women are the demographic who mostly buy male deodorants?" Clarissa pointed out as they arrived before the cashier, the youth’s brow rising as the woman-in-charge began sorting out their goods.

"Oh?" he remarked in genuine surprise, clearly unaware.

"Yeah. A lot of male deodorants are purchased by women for their husbands, boyfriends, sons... you get the gist." the lady explained, her palm gesturing briefly as she added;

"And some simply buy it for themselves because, well, male deodorants are known to last that much longer when compared to female deodorants."

"Fresh Tide just happens to fit into the type of scent that’s more universal than it is, manly, I guess, so a bunch of women and men quite like it. But mostly the women." Clarissa concluded.

"Ah. That... that tracks." Aiden replied with a soft, acknowledging nod.

"Pity they’ve been lagging behind the more popular deodorants in recent memory though..." the lady thoughtfully muttered as she handed the cashier seated behind the counter her card.

No sooner had Aiden heard that, something immediately clicked into his mind, his eyes narrowing.

However, when he realized there was no way he could buy a multi-million-dollar deodorant empire just yet, he simply shrugged it off;

’Oh well.’

As for the cashier whom had been sorting out their stuff, she finally raised her head from the screen after handing over their goods in a plastic bag and beamed at them;

"Thank you for shopping with--"

Rachel hadn’t quite managed to finish the words before the words caught in her throat and her eyes widened.

’It’s... it’s them! Clarissa Hale and Aiden North!’

With Death Wish spurring her on to become a better person, and equally a better mother, Rachel had gotten employed at the very same convenience store she’d once committed a theft at.

Yet, the very creator of that same beverage that had turned her life around, and the lady who popularized it in recent memory with the ad she was in were standing before her!

Before Aiden and Clarissa could ask if the woman was alright, she immediately blurted out;

"It’s such a pleasure to meet you both!"

Glancing over to one another, clearly surprised yet just as concerned by the lady’s sudden exuberance, Rachel quickly gathered herself and apologized, one that the youths waved it off.

Though she’d drawn a lot of attention from a bunch of individuals in the store with her actions, it wasn’t anything particularly problematic, all things considered.

After getting her to briefly explain the reason behind her excited outburst, Aiden and Clarissa found themselves smiling, bittersweet at first, but genuinely gladdened towards the end.

It was during that period they also noticed that she was indeed pregnant, but as she’d been seated behind the counter, they hadn’t even noticed it until they paid extra attention.

Waving the lady goodbye a few minutes later though, the couple made their way out, and Rachel found herself feeling quite fulfilled as she attended to the next customer.

Aiden and Clarissa were much the same on their drive back, both of them discussing over how it was nice to see that Death Wish was having far more of an impact than they could’ve ever known.

Dropping the lady home a couple minutes later, Aiden briefly stepped in to greet her parents as well.

Though Bruce still gave him a rather scrutinous gaze, Aiden could tell that the man was warming up to him.

Bidding his girl farewell with a sweet kiss, Aiden settled into his vehicle and began the drive home.

Yet, upon arrival, he spotted an unknown SUV in their parking lot, one that had his eyes narrowing immediately.