I put it back together and still holding it in my left hand, I took my wallet out of my purse with my right hand. “Do you take Visa?” I asked.

“Don’t you want to know how much it is first?” Danny asked as he took my credit card from between my fingers.

I looked up at him and said, “It doesn’t matter.”

He smiled at me and walked over to his cash register. He came back with the sales slip for me to sign, a small white cardboard box and a stack of tissue paper. He wrapped up the hair ornament with all the care of a mother swaddling her baby. He folded the papers and stuck them in the box as well. He handed the box to me like he was handing over a winning trophy to a triumphant athlete. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

I pointed at RJ who was still browsing at the pottery. I said, “My friend there is looking for a bowl to match her ceramic pitcher.”

Danny didn’t have a bowl for RJ. None of the stores did. She did find a tea cup she liked at one place. So the trip wasn’t a total loss for her and it sure wasn’t any kind of loss for me. Although now that I think about it, I probably should have asked Danny what the ornament cost. I am so not looking forward to seeing my next Visa bill.

***

Dear Diary,

There’s some weird full moon shopping mojo happening or something. I can’t step into a store without something strange happening. First the hair ornament. Then I go shoe shopping and some crazy lady runs right into me and knocks us both on our asses. Turns out she was a thief and the security officers were chasing her. The store gave me the pair of red leather shoes with the four inch heels I had tried on, as a reward for stopping her.

As great as both of those events were, it still got better. Living alone means I don’t usually have a lot in my fridge. Sometimes even I have to go grocery shopping. Yes, I know. No one thinks that models have to shop for food, but I do.