so much to do， and the kitchen! Hella， he has next to no food! So

I sent him to the store to do some grocery shopping."

Hella sat up， "Oh Allie! How could you?"

"Well， he needs food!" Allie protested surprised by her sister“s

unexpected reaction.

"Allie， maybe he hasn“t enough money for food. Did you ever

think of that? You should know best of all that not everybody has

enough money for food." Hella scolded.

"Nonsense!" Allie declared， "He“s a doctor isn“t he? Doctor“s

have oodles and oodles of money."

"Allie!" Hella cried out distressed by her sister“s flippant attitude.

"If that“s true， then why does he live in this house with very little

furnishings and no decorations of any sort?"

"Well， he“s paying me to work for him， that ought to count for

something. Besides， he“s a man; maybe he doesn“t like

decorating. When he comes home you can discuss his financial

situation with him. In the meantime， I have cleaning to do." Allie

stood. "Is there anything that you need?" she asked her sister.

"No." Hella said with a frown.

Allie smiled at her. "Come on， Hella. Does he really strike you as

the kind of guy who doesn“t have enough money to make ends

meet?"

Hella thought about Alex for a few moments. "No，" She finally

decided. "No， I guess not. But please be careful anyways. It isn“t

polite to assume that he“s rich."

Allie nodded. "Don“t worry. I“ll be polite. I“ll never send him to

buy anything again， unless I ask if it“s okay first. I“ll fix lunch as

soon as he returns."

Allie went to finish cleaning the bathroom，

and then she began on the kitchen.

***

" “Morning， Colin. What“s up?" Alex asked， leaning against the

counter.

One look at Alex“s face and Colin knew that he wanted

something. He jumped right to the point， not bothering with

greetings. "What do you want， Alex?"

Alex grinned. "Glad you asked， Colin old boy!" He reached into

his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "I have a list of

grocery items that I need. Now you know how much I hate

shopping， so I was wondering--."

"Stop right there， Conal. I“m a cashier， not a go-getter. You want

food， you have to go get it yourself." Colin folded his arms across

his chest， determined to stand firm.

Alex straightened. "Oh come on， Colin! What kind of friend are

you?" He complained.

"A mean one who makes you do your own shopping. Now get

outta my face， and I“ll ring you up when you“re done."

Grumbling， Alex began his search for the first item on the list:

flour.

Two and a half hours later， he was ready to check out.

"Well， what do you know?" Colin teased. "I thought you had

kicked the bucket in isle six."

"No. It just took me awhile to find everything. Hey Colin， I“d

like to ask you a favor."

Colin sighed， "Not another favor." He groaned.

"Oh， stop your moaning." Alex chided. "I can“t talk to you about

it now， but could you stop by my place sometime?"

"Sure." Colin agreed.

Alex put all the bags into his shopping cart and pushed it out to

his pick-up truck.