Sophie turned her head in the direction I’d indicated.

“Fiona, he’s following us,” she murmured. “He was in dairy when we got the cheese.”

Following us was a nice way of putting it. When I went out with Sophie, it was she who’d draw attention -- blonde, slender, and long-legged. My own, full-figured body type seemed to be out of favor with the male population.

I cast another glance at the tall, dark stranger, who was contemplating a package of oatmeal. He lifted his head, and for a brief moment our eyes met. He blushed and looked away.

Sophie pretended to study the preserves, all the while peeping at our follower. “Have you seen his hands? Adorable!”

“I’ll take myself off,” I suggested. “He’s intimidated by your having a companion. I’ll see you at check-out.”

“Don’t be silly. I’m sure he’s after you. He totally ignores me, but he keeps looking at you, when he thinks you’re not paying attention.”

It sounded so good I wanted it to be true. “All right,” I said, “let’s find out whom he favors. You go to vegetables, I’ll be in cosmetics. That’s about as far apart as it gets in here. Then we see what happens.”

Sophie took off, leaving me with the cart. A minute later, I stood in front of the shampoos, convincing myself that the stranger was interested in me. I slipped into a daydream involving a trip to the mountains with him, my Labrador cavorting around us while we picnicked in a sunny clearing …

It didn’t take long for me to get back down to earth. Nobody was approaching me, not even the cheese sample guy. I gave my admirer another minute (which I painstakingly followed out on my watch, adding an additional thirty seconds for unforeseen circumstances), then decided to rejoin Sophie.

I pushed my cart out of canned goods and saw them walking down the centre aisle together. Why had I allowed myself to get my hopes up? I wanted to hide in the next aisle, but in my haste I tripped over my own feet. Loosing my balance, I tried to grab a hold of the cart, missed it, and pushed it into a stack of tomato cans instead. As I hit the ground, the container pyramid collapsed under the impact of my cart. It was the most humiliating moment ever: I lay prostrate on the floor, surrounded by myriad tomato cans, crimson with embarrassment. Literally everyone in the store stared at me, including the man I had mistaken for an admirer.

After a moment of shock, everybody started talking at the same time. Sophie helped me up; the store manager asked whether I was all right; checkout clerks came to clear up the mess. I ineffectually tried to help gather the cans together, with Sophie and her new friend helping. I was furious that they were still there. The whole brouhaha would have been an elegant opportunity for her to disappear with him. But no, she had to have her little triumph.

When things had quieted down and people finally left me alone, Sophie said, “Fiona, I’d like you to meet Ryan.” She beamed at me. No wonder, Ryan was even more handsome up close. I could see the little laugh wrinkles at the corners of his mouth, and liked him even more.

Ryan shook my hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Fiona.” His voice was deep and resonant. There was an awkward silence. I glowered at Sophie.

“Ryan accosted me in vegetables a few minutes ago,” she offered.

Adding insult to injury. Why did she have to do this to me?

“There was something you couldn’t find, right?” She gave him a nudge.

“R-right,” he stammered and blushed.

“Well?” I said belligerently.

He looked sheepishly at his feet. Exasperated, I turned to Sophie, who was -- gone!

“Okay, Ryan,” I said, “this isn’t funny anymore. What’s going on?”

He swallowed and said, “Look, I’ve never done anything like this before, seriously. I saw you in the breakfast aisle, and I was just working up the courage to introduce myself, when all of a sudden you were gone. I couldn’t believe my bad luck. So I started looking around, and finally I found your friend.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blond woman wave at me from the check-out counter -- Sophie, with a big grin on her face. The next moment she was gone.