Chapter 2 BACK AND FORTH.

"It seemed like a moron was the perfect name for you!" She remarked insultingly, finally catching up with the man as she stood behind him.

On hearing her voice, he turned around, meeting her angry gaze as she flashed the broken syrup bottle in front of him. "My syrup bottle is broken, and I need to know if you're going to take responsibility for it."

"But I've already apologized." He replied, looking at her with a mixture of surprise and irritation.

"Your stupid apology won't do!" Auria wasn't having it. "You don't get to just walk away from this. You need to compensate me for the syrup."

"Compensate you?" His forehead suddenly creased, and he turned to his phone, ending the call that was still going on.

He turned to her again, eyes flashing with frustration. "You're the one who wasn't holding your basket properly. I'm not responsible for your carelessness."

"No, you weren't paying attention to your surroundings! "Auria's anger boiled over. "And now, thanks to you, I've lost a product. How's that my fault?!"

The man's expression hardened, and for a moment, it seemed like the argument was about to escalate further. But then, his phone buzzed another call again, and as he tried to answer it, the lady, without thinking, suddenly snatched it, taking him by surprise.

The tension on his forehead increased and his frown deepened. "Are you crazy?" He lashed out, his voice trembling loudly in the hall as he tried to reach for it. But Auria only took a few steps backward, avoiding close proximity with the man.

"You've just got to answer me first!" She replied stubbornly, her gaze firm as she locked eyes with him.

Seeing the stubbornness in her eyes, and realizing that they were only just going back and forth with a fruitless argument, he took a deep breath, seeming to rein in his frustration.

"Fine." He said finally, and suddenly grasped hold of her hand as he snatched his phone from her. "I'll replace the syrup for you. But next time, maybe hold onto your basket a little tighter."

Auria's eyes widened in shock as the man suddenly pulled out a wad of cash and handed it to her. "Take it and stop bothering me!" He said, his tone dismissive and he turned and strode off. Auria watched him, speechless, as he disappeared into the crowd. Her face burned with embarrassment and she just remained as stunned as ever.

Just then, Penny's voice called out behind her. Auria turned to see her sister standing with the store staff member.

"She wants to make sure we pay for the broken syrup bottle." Penny explained, eying at the worker who followed with a nod. "Alright.." Auria softly gasped with a nod also. "Of course, we'll pay!"

But Penny's eyes suddenly landed on the cash in her younger sister's hand. "What's that?" she asked, curiosity sparked in her voice, and Auria's face twisted in exasperation.

"That rude man!" She grumbled. "He just handed me this like I'm some kind of beggar!"

"Technically, he's compensating us for the syrup." Penny said casually, her expression turning practical. But Auria frowned at her words. "So?"

"So, in a way, we needed his money."

"But not like this!" Auria scowled as she scolded, "This is an insult to me, didn't you get what I said earlier?"

But Penny instead chuckled. "Well, shouldn't you be glad you got more than you asked for? That's a blessing in disguise, you know?"

"What blessing in disguise?" Auria raised an eyebrow, her frustration was still pretty evident. "Come on, Penny! You're acting like we don't have enough money."

""I'm just saying..." Penny continued casually with a shrug. "If you don't want it, I can just take it for you."

And before Auria could react, she seriously snatched the cash from her hand. "Now, come on, let's go pay for our stuff." Penny added, grabbing a bemused Auria's hand, and pulling her toward the cash register, with the staff member following behind them, a neutral expression on her face.

"Your total is 420 pesos, and your change will be 30." The cashier told Auria, who was the one making the payment, while Penny stood nearby, engrossed in her phone and had shoved her ears with earbuds.

"But I'm sorry, we don't have any change at the moment." The woman continued, and next, she suddenly suggested.

"You could get some chocolate bars from that table over there. They cost about 30, exactly your change."

"Sure." Auria nodded and walked over to the table, noticing it was just a bar remaining.

Just as she was about to grab it, a hand reached for it first. She looked up to see the same man she'd argued with earlier.

"Apart from being annoying, I didn't know you're also a thief." She grumbled as the man frowned, taken aback. He was no longer on a phone call, but still had a pretty much frustrated scowl on his face. "Wait, what did you just say?" He demanded, his voice stern.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "I want that chocolate bar!" She said firmly, glaring up at him. "I want it too." Argued the man, not backing out either from the glare contest.

"But I reached for it first!" she retorted further as a taunting smirk suddenly pulled upwards at the corner of his lips. "If that's so, then why is it in my hand and not yours?"

Auria's face twisted in annoyance, as she turned and walked back to the cashier. "You know what? Keep the change. Or you could just give it to this man for his chocolate. He seems to desperately want my charity."

The man's eyes narrowed and he walked behind her. "Oh. Says the girl who took the handful of cash handed to her." Auria's anger flared up as she glared at him, then turned to Penny, who was just raising her head from her phone, only to realize the tension ensuing.

"Give me the cash!" Auria demanded, earning a confused frown from Penny, who hesitated. "What?"

"Just hand it over, sissy!" She urged and Penny reluctantly answered.

Grabbing the cash, Auria turned around as she suddenly grabbed hold of the man's hand, placing the money on his palm. "Take your stupid cash. I don't need it!" After saying so, she turned to the counter, grabbing her grocery bags and began to walk off, her long strides eating up the distance. "Come on, Penny. Let's go," she called out to Penny, still puzzled as ever by the sudden turn of events.

The man watched Auria, his anger evident in his glare, as she disappeared into the distance.