Foy was in the supermarket standing in the cereal aisle, trying to decide if he wanted to buy the regular size box of Captain Crunch or the jumbo family size. He heard a woman call out his name and looked up to find Suzanne coming down the aisle toward him pushing a basket that was full of adult-looking groceries - fruits, vegetables, bread, and other things needed for real meals. He quickly dropped the Captain Crunch into his basket, then wished he had put it back on the shelf. He looked at the items in his shopping cart. One box of Captain Crunch, 3 bags of various snack chips, an assortment of frozen meals, some canned soup, and some Vermont white cheddar cheese.

Foy had always been self-conscious about buying food. He did not like to prepare food, so he ate out a lot. His selection had a college-boy-away-from-home feel to it, and it embarrassed him. Suzanne pushed her cart forward, smiling. She kept pushing it closer and closer until it bumped gently against his cart. He felt the small shock of the collision in his arms and shoulders. It had a solid feel that he liked. He opened the conversation with forced energy, hoping to distract her from the food in his cart.

“Suzanne! I’ve never seen you here before. Do you shop here? So how are you? What’s going on? Are you looking forward to the weekend?”

Suzanne appeared a little surprised by his enthusiasm and the stock questions, which didn’t seem natural for him. She didn’t have time to answer except with nods and one-word replies.

She glanced down into his cart and Foy winced. Suzanne smiled.

“Captain Crunch? Really?”

She looked very amused, as if she had noticed he was self-conscious and was going to make him suffer for a few moments.

“What else you got in there?” She peered deliberately into the cart.

Oh God, this is like opening your mouth for a cute dental hygienist and having her say you really have a lot of tartar.

“Doritos. Soup. Soup. More soup. Frozen pizza.”

She shook her head. “Men! I have no idea how guys stay alive, because you eat like…”

“Like pigs?”

She laughed again. She had an amazing smile. It flashed and lit up her whole face and was very natural. Very at ease.

“Well, I wasn’t going to say pigs. I thought it, but I don’t know you well enough to say that. I was going to say ‘like…’”

She paused again, searching for a word.

“Pigs is really the only word that works,” he said. “I saw you coming and was trying to decide if I could slip the Captain Crunch back onto the shelf before you saw it. Then I was looking for something in the cart - you know, something halfway healthy that an adult would eat. I was trying to turn a can of vegetable soup over so the label would show a little color, but the Cheetos got in my way.”

Suzanne burst into laughter, covering her mouth and leaning over her cart. Foy felt a rush of adrenaline and his heart pounded. He had forgotten how wonderful a thing it is to make a woman laugh, to be lost in conversation with her and to see a smile come onto her face. It was almost like male banter, but with a lighter touch. Cautious and polite but pushing the edge just a bit, just enough but not too much.

God, flirting has got to be the most exciting and romantic thing in the world. It’s been too long.

Suzanne looked into his cart. “Is there actually a can of vegetable soup in there? Because all I see is Chicken and Stars.”

Foy winced again, this time an extreme wince. “Uh, actually no. Nothing but…well, Chicken Noodle O’s, but I guess that’s no better huh?”

She chuckled. “No, you definitely need... anything green would help, even a green label.”

Suzanne reached into his cart and picked up the box of Captain Crunch. She looked at the back of it.

“So you really eat this stuff?”

“Yes!” he said deliberately, as if he were put out. “It’s delicious. It’s like dessert for me. You know, instead of chocolate or something. It can’t be any worse for me than that.”

“Oh yes. It can,” she said firmly. “Chocolate has some redeeming qualities, for one thing, especially dark chocolate. While Captain Crunch…” She looked at the back of the box again. “Well, there is this nice maze.” She started using baby talk. “You can help the weedow sailor find his way back home to the Captain.”

Foy threw back his head and laughed loudly, then shook his head, admitting defeat. He tried to grab the box away from Suzanne, but she held it out of his reach. Somehow missing the box made him feel even sillier and more vulnerable.

“Oh my God, this is totally humiliating.”

She smiled. “Don’t feel bad. I eat Fruit Loops.”

“No!” he said with overdone surprise. “Really?”

“Yes, but I would never buy them in the grocery store in front of other women. I buy them late at night from the 7-11.”

Foy laughed. “Well, if you’re going to eat kid’s cereal, you might as well go for the good stuff and eat Captain Crunch. It’s so much better than Fruit Loops.”

“Oh no,” she said dismissively. “Fruit Loops totally rule. It is the greatest cereal ever made. Period.”

“What are you kidding me? Fruit Loops have no flavor. You’re just getting suckered in by the colors. Which is kind of a woman thing, now that I think about it. What’s the deal with that anyway? Women are always talking about presentation. With men, we like browns and yellows and taste. It’s all about taste.”

“Yeah but Captain Crunch tears up the roof of your mouth.” She opened her mouth slightly and wagged her thumb back and forth in front of it. “It hurts too much.”

Foy stared at her. He had always known that about Captain Crunch, but he had never heard anyone else say it.

“Oh my God. You’re funny. You can talk in-depth, with experience and knowledge about Captain Crunch. And you sneak out at night to buy Fruit Loops, which although it’s of lesser quality, I’m still impressed. You might be the perfect woman.”

Suzanne laughed again, obviously pleased. Foy became aware that he had let this go to his head and was flirting a little too much.

Whoa cowboy. Take it easy.

A nice silence settled over them as they basked in the light afterglow of conversation with the opposite sex. There was no way Foy was going to let the silence go too far. After a moment he said, “Well, I guess I’ll check out, take my Captain Crunch home, and rip the hell out of the roof of my mouth. If Professional Wrestling or Nascar is on TV, it could be the perfect evening.”

Suzanne laughed again, and Foy felt helplessly attracted to her. It had been so long since he had talked with a woman like this. Such a long time because the last few years with Jenny were not happy ones. It was all he could do to pull himself away, but he forced himself to go. He waved then steered his cart toward the check-out lines. He wondered if she was watching him, but he dared not look back.

rlp

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