Claire rang up the items, put the receipt in the bag and handed it to the customer with a smile. It was almost closing time, which ironically was also the busiest most weekdays, as folks heading home from work stopped in to grab items for that evening's dinner. Lucia, Claire and Kyle had discussed staying open later, but decided doing that five days a week would not support a good work-life balance for them or their staff. They compromised and chose Tuesday as the day they would stay open late.
Claire was starting to cover some of the display items when a woman walked in. Her eyes lingered on the customer for a moment as she tried to place her. She wrinkled her nose in thought and then it hit her... Kaitlyn. It had been nearly twelve years since she had last seen her, that fateful day at the lake, but she was still recognizable. They were both the same age, but Claire thought she looked quite a few years older than the approximate thirty she must be.
Claire pushed the thought aside, deciding it was cruel to judge her that way. An outsider would think she was more than justified in going much further than that, but Claire held no grudges against her. Even back in high school, she never hated the people that tormented her. They perplexed her. She understood why Sam had picked on her that day in the hallway so many years ago. He had been picked on as well, and was lashing out because of how much it hurt him. He couldn't do it back to his tormenters, so he picked the easiest target he could: Claire. But that wasn't the case with Kaitlyn and some of the others. No one picked on them, heck it seemed like most people in the school idolized them. It was a quandary to which Claire never had an answer.
Kaitlyn perused the shelves as Claire and the other employees went about covering the items in the display case. Claire casually watched her from the corner of her eye. Kaitlyn picked a few items from the shelves and headed to the checkout counter. One of the employees started to put down the tray she was wrapping when Claire stopped her with a touch on her arm, "I've got it, Katie."
"Ok, Mrs. Scott."
Claire smirked to herself. Katie insisted on calling her "Mrs. Scott," even though Katie was only a few years younger than her. Whether she did it out of respect or humor, Claire could never work out. Probably a bit of both, knowing Katie.
Kaitlyn put the items down on the counter and looked down into her wallet.
"Will there be anything else?" Claire asked.
Kaitlyn looked up at her and responded flatly, "No, just that."
Nothing. No recognition. Not even a hint. Claire would ponder this much later and realize that it may have been Kaitlyn never saw her as a person. This would go a long way toward explaining how she could treat Claire the way she did. It wasn't like Claire had some type of extreme makeover. She still didn't wear makeup. Her features were the same, if just more visible now due to the glasses and haircut. Kaitlyn and the other bullies just viewed her as an object. Something to kick around. They never saw the person underneath. So why would she recognize her now if she had never truly seen her?
Kaitlyn was still objectively pretty, even if she did look older than Claire thought she should. It was just hidden by even more makeup than she wore in school.
Claire rang up and bagged the items. "That will be $42.76."
"Wow, that's expensive." Kaitlyn responded.
"It's all homemade, even the sauce."
Kaitlyn frowned a bit before responding, "Is Kyle Scott here? I heard he works here."
Later, when Claire tried to reason why she responded the way she did, she could never come up with an answer. "My husband is at our distribution center. He works there most of the time."
"Oh, you're Kyle's wife?" Kaitlyn responded with a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"Yes Kaitlyn, we've been married about five years now."
Claire felt bad as soon as she said it. She almost felt like she was bullying Kaitlyn at this point and the thought made her a little queasy. For her part, Kaitlyn looked truly perplexed.
"Do I know you?"
Claire felt even worse now, but there was no way to put the genie back in the bottle.
"Yes, we were in the same grade in school. I'm Claire Kelly... well, Claire Scott now."
Kaitlyn couldn't have looked more surprised if Claire had slapped her.
A quiet "Oh," was all Kaitlyn responded with. She looked down, pulled the money out of her wallet and handed it to Claire without looking at her. Claire handed her the change and looked up at Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn put the money back in her wallet without meeting her gaze, took the bag and walked out of the store.
*****
Claire chewed on her lip the whole ride home. It was an innocent statement. It was also the truth. She was married to Kyle. So why should she feel bad about it? She knew the reason. Because the way it played out, she felt she had bullied Kaitlyn, albeit very slightly.
Later, after telling some friends about the encounter, they relayed Kaitlyn's situation to her. She had dated and married a man that lived several towns away, moving in with him not long after graduating high school. They had a child and divorced a few years after. Kaitlyn took up with a new guy in the same town. They had a child together as well, but never married. Kaitlyn grew tired of his drinking, having spent most of the years since high school trying to kick the habit herself, and left him. She moved herself and the two children back in with her parents.
This made Claire feel even worse about the situation. While her mental health had improved dramatically over the years since she and Kyle had gotten together, she could have let this eat at her and drag her down.
*****
It was a week after she found out about Kaitlyn's situation. She was having a drink after work with Jen, lamenting about her treatment of Kaitlyn, when Jen put her foot down.
"Claire, just stop it."
Claire paused, mid-sip. Jen was normally very gentle. Her change in demeanor made Claire take notice.
"What would have happened if you never said anything to Kaitlyn?"
"Nothing I suppose... she didn't seem to like the prices in our store, so I doubt she would have come back."
