The next day, thoughts of smoothies continually popped into Giannis’ head, and he was itching to go back to the mall to get another. It was a game day, though, so he had a strict nutrition and activity plan to follow, prepared specifically for him by the team’s trainers. His breakfast of granola and a protein shake was no less bland than it had been before, but now, it seemed like a meal unfit for a human being. Compared to the wondrous burst of flavors contained in a smoothie, the protein shake was an unpalatable slurry. Lunch was somewhat better, but Giannis still felt that it could have been improved with a smoothie on the side.
However, as gametime approached, Giannis pushed this thoughts out of his head. As tasty as the smoothie had been, it would do him no good to think about it during the game. He had to remain focused, he reminded himself. If he could make sure he was the most focused, alert player on the court at all times, they would do well.
Giannis’ preparation paid off, and he had a good individual game while also helping his team to the win. In the locker room after the game, with Giannis’ intensity having faded to leave behind the smiling 20-year-old he was off the court, his thoughts once again turned to the fruit-flavored drink. He approached John Henson.
“Thanks man for taking me to the mall yesterday. All the womens are loving my new scarf, and I still have taste of smoothie on my tongue.”
“No problem. I wish I could say the same about the Chipotle you bought me, but I think I flushed it down the toilet this morning.” Both of them laughed at John’s crass joke.
“You want to go again to the mall tomorrow,” Giannis asked hopefully.
John smiled apologetically. “I’d love to, man, but they got me doing some promotional thing at a supermarket. Me and JOB. What a way to spend a day off, right?”
“Yeah,” Giannis replied, slightly disappointed. He knew all about having to do promotional events in the community. “I went last week at a hospital for kids and it just making me sad.”
“I gotta get going. See you around.”
“Yeah, see you.”
—
By the time 10:00 rolled around the next morning, Giannis gave up trying to play PS4 and got in his car. A smoothie and a Cinnabon for breakfast sounded like the most delicious thing in the world, but the mall’s food court didn’t open until after the rest of the mall.
Finally nearing his destination after fifteen minutes on the road, Giannis’ stomach growled as he carefully navigated the hectic Saturday traffic in the parking lot. It was only the second time he had been here, and the first by himself; despite the fact that visiting malls was commonplace in America, he was still a little undone by the largeness of the place.
His nervousness was unnecessary; he had picked a parking place close to the end of the mall that contained the food court, and the first thing he saw when he walked in the doors was the large, pink-lettered sign above the smoothie store. Abandoning his plans to get a cinnamon roll, he immediately headed over to Smoothie Express, knowing in advance what his order would be.
“Can I get a berry smoothie please?” he asked the girl working at the register, whose nametag read “Rachel”.
“Hey, you were here a few days ago, weren’t you? With another tall guy?”
Giannis was still not used to all the recognition he got in the city. “Oh, yeah. My friend John.”
“Are you guys, like, basketball players or something? You’re so tall! I’m like to my coworkers, whoa, look how tall those guys are!”
“Yeah, we play for Bucks,” Giannis replied, smiling friendlily but also remembering what the goal of this trip was. “So, how about a berry smoothie?”
Rachel smiled and giggled. “Sorry. I get a little distracted sometimes. What size?”
“Um.” Giannis didn’t realize that he got to choose. “Big?” he answered, holding up his hands to indicate the size of the last smoothie he got.
“A large. Got it. Anything else?”
Giannis debated ordering another one so that he could save one for home, but decided against it. It would be better if smoothies were a treat rather than an everyday thing. “No, just one smoothie.”
After paying the unfairly low price and receiving his drink, Giannis waved goodbye to the girl and sat down at a nearby table. True to his memories of the first smoothie, this one was very tasty, pleasantly cold yet also soothing. Whatever the recipe was, it must be a closely-guarded secret, he decided. He wanted to run to everybody in the food court and tell them that they had to try one, but in the end, he simply made another tweet, being careful to spell his words correctly this time:
“Second smoothie just as good as first…THANKS AMERICA!”