Jenna blinked, still adjusting her eyes to the brightness of the supermarket. She maneuvered her cart through the aisles with difficulty. Somehow, I always manage to find the one that doesn't want to work, she thought as the cart attempted to go in two directions at once. In a rare display of stubbornness, she refused to go get a different cart. "Their prices are high enough; they should have carts that work," she grumbled
    She approached the meat aisle. "Ground beef, chicken, pork chops," she murmured, putting a package of each in her cart. Looking at the display and thinking of her empty freezer, she added another package of ground beef.
    A display of sirloin steaks caught her eye, causing her stomach to rumble. Checking the prices, she decided she could afford one. "One every month or so shouldn't hurt," she said aloud, reaffirming her decision.
    "That's what I keep telling my coach, but he still rides me about it," a voice behind her said. She turned around to see who had spoken. "I think he's finally had to admit that I'm not the vegetarian type," Thom Ellison finished, smiling. "Jenna Bauer, right?"
    "You remember me?" she asked, surprised.
    "I never forget a computer," he joked.
    "For some reason, this is the last place I'd expect to see you," Jenna said, the words leaving her mouth before she could realize what she was saying. Trying to cover, she added, "I just thought for some reason that you'd have someone who shops for you. Pretty silly of me, I guess." He face was flaming and she tried to just turn around and leave. Her cart was traitorous, turning in the opposite direction and hitting the bumper on the meat counter.
    Thom pulled her cart away from the counter. To Jenna's relief, he was still smiling. "It's not silly. I do shop for myself, except when my parents are in town. Then my mom refuses to let me step a foot in the kitchen, even to help with the dishes. She seems to think that I'm not eating right."
    "Moms can be like that. My mother always gives my apartment a cross between a once-over and the third degree. She thinks I don't clean." The expression on Jenna's face showed plainly what she thought of her mother's opinion of her.
    "So, um, would you like some company as you shop?" Thom asked hesitantly.
    Jenna looked at him, a mischievous smile on her face. "As long as you don't make fun of my groceries."
    "I would never stoop that low," he promised.
    "Swear on a package of ramen noodles?"
    He looked sideways at the noodles she was holding. "You actually eat those?"
    "Hey, don't knock the noodles. They're cheap, portable, and easy to make at my desk when I can't get outside the office for lunch."
    Thom shrugged. "Okay, I swear on a package of ramen noodles not to insult your groceries." He grinned.

    Jenna hadn't had so much fun grocery shopping since she graduated from college. They raced their carts in the empty aisles, walking sedately through the aisles with people in them. They joked about some of the stranger items on the shelves ("Do they really get much call for pickled squid?" Thom mused in one of those instances), and Thom even attempted to juggle three boxes of macaroni and cheese, with minimal success. When they weren't joking around, they talked. They kept the conversation casual, talking about inconsequential things like favorite colors, favorite foods, other favorite things and least favorite things.
    Jenna was almost sorry when it was time to check out. As she and Thom headed for the lines, she told him how much fun she had.
    "I had fun, too," he said. "It's a lot more fun to shop with someone than by yourself." He looked a little distant as he said that. Jenna wondered why, but didn't get the chance to ask. "I heard Sinclair finally decided on a design," he remarked. "Can we expect to be seeing you around the club more?"
    "A little," Jenna told him. "I'll be stopping by with some of my staff a few days a week to gather the material."
    "I'll look forward to seeing you there, then. When's the first time you're stopping by?"
    "Monday, actually."
    "Then, till Monday." Thom pushed his cart towards another short line.
    "Till Monday." Jenna felt a smile creeping across her face. For some reason, Monday was starting to look really good.