"Excuse me…Could you grab that jar for me? It's juuust out of my reach."

"Sure thing."

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome."

She's not sure how she could've missed it, but she did. Too absorbed in checking an item off her list,  planning the rest of the grocery shopping,  and thinking of other things that needed to be done that day.

She missed it.

The series of looks that passed over the man's face as he watched the back of her head moving further away from him. Surprise, recognition, doubt, confusion, doubt, disappointment, anger. She missed all of it as she peacefully continued her grocery shopping. 

Well, almost peacefully. 

As she walked away, this itch developed in her mind. The kind that develops when you're forgetting something. She knew her list was complete because her system for it was perfect. The itch persisted and she continued shopping.

A few minutes later,  something was dropped into her basket. A perfectly harmless item from a perfectly harmless shelf in this perfectly harmless grocery store. As she registered exactly what had appeared in her buggy, her face heated with fury at the same time her brain attempted to reassure her that this was next to impossible. That her fury had been riled by some poor, innocent shopper who had no idea what this item would incite. Slowly, as her brain nobly waged war with her temper, she began to raise her eyes from her list to see who had introduced the offensive item to a day that was going perfectly well. 

"Now, now, don't cause a scene in front of all these good people," equal parts drawl and venom reached her ears. 

"Why are you here?"

"I couldn't just go home. Just end all this by handing you a jar from a shelf."

"You could have. I'd have preferred it."

"You're not surprised? You don't have questions?"

"Surprise is not my primary emotion at the moment."

"Oh,  I can see that," he smirks,  but it vanishes before she can see it because he's not a complete idiot. Maybe a glutton for punishment. As much as he tried to talk himself into just going home, he chose this. And this was more painful than he expected. 

"Just go away. I don't want to talk to you. Which shouldn't surprise you. Why are you here?"

She was trying to take deep, calming breaths, but her face still felt very warm and she was breathing too fast.

"Well, getting groceries, I suppose.  What else would I be doing?"

"Terrorizing an innocent woman at the grocery store who was just minding her business."

"You look more capable of causing terror.  Your face is still the color of a tomato, by the way."

"I can think of a quick fix for it. I thought you were dead."

"I thought the same of you. Imagine my surprise when your lovely voice asked me for help."

"I don't want to imagine anything about you."

He had forgotten how much she could hurt him. He had forgotten how enraptured he'd get when he talked to her. Even now, he can feel it underneath all the complicated emotions swirling on the surface. If she were nicer to him, he's not sure he'd reject her. He tries to tell himself the only option is to reject her. He tries to remind himself of everything that was wrong with her. Tried to just have this conversation without stirring up memories and emotions he had buried deep. So deep they'd never resurface again, he might have been mistaken. 

The fury dissipated enough that she realized they were sitting on a park bench near the grocery store. She probably started walking in an attempt to escape. Her fury dialed back up a little when she realized she probably let him help her load her groceries into her car. She needed some time alone. She needed to think. She needed him to stop talking to her. 

"I really wasn't sure what you'd do when you saw me."

"I could've been ignoring you. Avoiding this."

"Oh, no. No, ma'am. I saw your laser eyes."

"My what?" She knew exactly what he meant,  but hoped he believed she had forgotten about this phrase he's created. 

"When you're so focused, you miss things. Like the person helping you get a jar. Or someone waving at you as you walk by. Laser eyes. Woman on a mission."

"And what? You hoped I'd be excited to see you? Not likely."

"I had to talk to you."

"Why?"

"We were going to get married."

"Well, we didn't."

“Yeah. Would’ve been interesting.”

“I guess.”

“You guess?” He scoffed in reply, “Getting married is a pretty significant decision.”

“Maybe I just wanted some entertainment. Long term.”

“Oh please, you and I both know how easy it is to entertain a mortal without getting married. Then, when the time comes, you split amicably.”

“I’m surprised any of your splits could be described that way.”

“So I get all the blame? Very mature of you, sweetheart.”

“You were so ready to start a new life somewhere without me. Why should I try to stop you when I could help jump start you in that direction?”

“Interesting recollection you have.”

“Interesting to find out you had another secret you were keeping all to yourself like some sort of comfort object.”

“You don’t have any secrets? We’re immortal. Secrets are how we stay alive.”

“I don’t care.”

“Why shut down now? We’re starting to get somewhere for once.”

“I’m going home. I don’t want to see you. Don’t follow me to my car.”

He didn’t follow her to her car, but he did watch to make sure she drove away safely. Maybe he’d call her in a few days, he knew she’d have the same number.