“I’ll swing back here in about thirty minutes,” Bond called out.
Sabrina was practically drooling over every candy table she passed, with Charlie right behind her filling a basket. I grabbed another basket and called for them to follow me up the escalator.
“But there is so much good stuff down here.” Sabrina didn’t follow. “Give me a few minutes.”
“You can come back. Come on, I wanna show you something.”
I watched as the two of them shoveled chocolate into the basket like little kids. I had to laugh for many reasons-- watching a guy as big and scary-looking as Charlie following around a petite girl being a madwoman over candy. I was on the escalator as it went up when they finally followed.
“Woo, what is this?” Sabrina hurried over to the circle I was standing in. “It talks.”
“Yeah, watch this.” I turned to face the screen.
Colors swirled around me, then a voice came from a loudspeaker. The voice said I was a yellow M&M. The screen in front of me went on to describe a yellow M&M personality. I could hear Sabrina laughing when it said I like sunshine.
“Your turn.” I gestured for her to step into the circle.
“Charlie, you’re next.” She turned to face the screen.
After the process went again, the loudspeaker announced she was a purple M&M. We all laughed when it said she likes candy. It hit the nail on the head with that assessment. I suspected the person behind the voice saw her on the cameras. Either way, it was funny.
“Charlie, get in there.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him in.
We watched as the same thing happened. The voice said he was a pink M&M.
“Don’t you dare tell the guys that happened,” Charlie growled. “That machine was just trying to be funny.”
“It is funny. What color do you think it would have said Bond is?” She started picking up more chocolate. “Cota look, this one is the shape of the Statue of Liberty.”
“You have enough candy there for a month. Did you get one of everything?” I laughed.
“We’re sharing and, if you’re nice, we’ll let you have some too.” She hugged the candy to her body. “But not these. You can have the plain ones.”
“I think I made a mistake letting you know how great chocolate is.” I followed her to the cashier. “I’ll pay, but I want a Statue of Liberty too.”
Bond was waiting, as stated, when we exited carrying four bags of chocolate. She had no idea that if she ate all four bags of chocolate, I’d have to call a doctor. Lucky for her, several Hawthorne doctors live in our building.
“Did you rob the store or just buy them out?” Bond popped the trunk. “I’ll take one of those bars before you put them in.”
We went to the next store. Sabrina insisted the guys join us this time. She danced around the store on her toes, placing varied masks and hats on the guys. I hadn’t seen her dance before we rescued her. It left me wondering just how much she missed it. I sent Murphy a text.
“Hey, are there any shows going on this week?”
“Duh, it’s NYC, there’s lots of shows all over the city.”
“Ha-ha, I meant at the ballet?”
“No ballet this week. We’re having the seats recovered.”
“I was thinking Sabrina might really like some time on the stage.” I said
“With or without an audience?”
“Both, but for now I’d like to give her some freedom to dance for herself. She looks like she misses it.”
“She does. I asked her before we came back to the city.”
“Are you guys still going shopping Thursday?”