My Ice Prince - стр. 28
At last I saw Mary walking hurriedly towards our house, and I sighed with relief: it is very boring to wait for someone.
The door opened, there was a commotion in the hallway, and then Mary came into the living room with a large bag in her hands.
– I'm home! I went to the supermarket to ask if you'd been in, but they said you hadn't» she said, setting the bags on the floor. – I bought everything!
– Oh, I think I really forgot to go in there! – I pretended to be embarrassed, but I was immensely surprised by Mary's enthusiasm: she had bought the groceries herself! How embarrassing! I had absolutely no intention of buying anything!
– That's what I thought, so I bought it all myself. Don't worry, you too: tomatoes, cucumbers and apples, only you have to give me the money for that.
– Thank you for your concern, Mary! – I exclaimed, but in my heart I sighed unhappily.
I took a hundred pounds sterling out of my purse and put it on the table.
– I won't have change» Mary said, surprised.
– Change? – I asked.
– Well, yes, it's a lot more than you owe me.
– How much do I owe you?
She smiled.
– Nine pounds! – Mary laughed merrily. – I'd forgotten that you came from Poland! Is everything so expensive there?
– Yes, very expensive» I said, though I had no idea if it was true.
I had never bought groceries and didn't even know how much they cost. And I had never had much to do with paper money; I just transferred money to bank accounts.
– I'll give it to you when you change it. – Mary grabbed the bags and headed for the kitchen.
I followed her.
– What's that empty box in the hallway? – She asked, taking the groceries out of the bag and putting them on the table.
– I was just going to tell you about it: my parents sent me a parcel with a very important medicine» I said, helping her take out the groceries.
– Medicine? – Mary froze for a second with a baguette in her hands. – Are you sick?
– Yeah, I told you I'm allergic to almost everything. So I take a special medicine, and it's really nasty.
– I feel sorry for you. They used to give me castor oil when I was a kid, and it was disgusting!
I went to the fridge and opened the door.
– You see, these packets contain my medicine» I explained to Mary.
– Why do they look like tomato juice cartons? – she wondered.
She walked over to the fridge and picked up one of the packets.
«What a sight! Mary is twirling that packet in her hands and has no idea that it contains human blood and that her neighbour is a vampire!» – I giggled.
– I asked for it to be sent to me like that. It's simple psychology: I drink the medicine from this packet and I don't get so disgusted» I lied in a serious tone.
– Really? I didn't know you could do that. – Mary put the bag in the fridge and went back to the groceries from the shop.
– Yeah, I've been tested since I was six» I sighed.
– It's really sad when you can't have a festive treat at Christmas» she said thoughtfully. – It must be frustrating to watch everyone eating the goodies when you can't touch them yourself» she said thoughtfully.
– I was offended at first, but you get used to it» I lied desperately. – Mary, can I ask you something?
– Sure, what? – She looked at me.
– Don't open those packages even out of curiosity. Never» I said with a smile.