It had been a rather boring couple of weeks, mostly due to the very wet early Spring weather. Driving on puddling wet pavement and through another car's wake can be damn scary. The quiet calmness of being stuck at home for several long, very long days could have been perceived as a real treat, but that was just not realistic thinking for Bess and Rory. Finally, there was a break in the weather which prompted Bess to announce, "Time for our Costco run, and I'm riding shotgun!" Bess liked - no, SHE LOVED - riding shotgun as it enabled her to tell Rory where to go with enthusiastic relish. This fact was not lost on Rory who usually turned a deaf ear unless a pending disaster was obvious. Rory's response was to tell Bess that if she wanted somebody to give endless directives, she should have asked Fred to join them. OMG, that man gave such inexhaustible directions as to enable a blindfolded person to drive safely. His efforts often danced on the few nerves Rory had left, even though she prided herself on being very accommodating, but that was her personal opinion and not one shared by her friends.
Rory picked Bess up bright and early around 10:30 and off they went. The weather was surprisingly half decent and rain-free, thus making the drive to Costco an easy one. The huge parking lot was almost full. So the pair employed their old-lady hawk-like vision, which involved squinting their eyes; thus, they were able to find a spot. Rory raced the car over and parked. While doing so, she almost hit an older lady with a cane as the old dear exited her vehicle. Bess gushed apologies.
Having learned from previous humiliating experiences, Rory reminded them both that the car was red and parked in the middle of the centre lane, in line with the entrance doors. They exited the vehicle and headed to Costco.
With their usual exuberant confidence, they cheerfully strutted through the entrance pushing their huge carts. Their first stop, of course, was clothing. Bess checked out one table and carefully examined a mountain of tops. Rory took off. Bess hadn't a clue were she went and did not care as she was happily experiencing retail therapy. Eventually Rory returned to find Bess helping several women to make decisions as to what garment they needed, the colour and size. She even suggested one older lady try on a sexy black bra over her blouse. The woman did as she was told (she dared not refuse) and several onlookers erupted in laughter. The bra try-er on-er immediately apologized and removed the bra and flung it at Bess. The twosome then moved on to Bess' next victims. Advice flowed freely, opinions kindly offered, laughter spilled like a bubbling waterfall and new friends were made, sort of.
Finally, the small group of potential clothes purchasers dispersed. Bess and Rory headed off to the pharmacy section. Here they discussed in greatest detail the benefits of this or that supplement, etc. to all and sundry. Rory finished the discussions with her expert advice, which fell into dead air. Sadly, nobody seemed interested. Bess and Rory rolled their carts to a different section.
Moving faster than Bess, Rory went ahead, rounded the end of one aisle and was up the next before Bess noticed her disappearance. She was not pleased! With a sharpish edge to her voice, Bess bleated Rory's name a couple of times, consequently drawing customers' attention, attention Rory did not want, but there it was. Rory showed herself and smiled ever so sweetly as she waited for Bess to catch up. Bess snarled that she did not appreciate eating Rory's dust, which was a rather old and tired cliche. Rory turned a deaf ear. When the reprimand was finished, they put on their happy faces and merrily continued up and down the aisles, all the while commenting on this or that product. While making a rather sharp left turn up an aisle, Bess cut off a man mid-turn. He was obviously disgruntled. To smoothe his feathers, Rory made light of Bess's poor driving skills and chuckled. The man was not amused! Bess was not pleased with the comments either and in a haughty tone, told Rory to just move on and go bother somebody else, she'd catch up later. "Yah, right," Rory huffed. Their being snarky drew some attention, so Bess and Rory hammed it up even more to please their audience.
