3

3

Seth

Seth watched Dakota go. If only they'd had a couple more minutes, he could have figured out whether Dakota was flirting or not. Maybe he was just a nice guy. He was very attentive to the annoying guy in the wheelchair, who was in the midst of a loud monologue about peanuts and drinks with the little lady.

A woman tapped his arm. She looked like an aging rocker, with dyed blond curls and wearing velvet and silk to the grocery. He wondered if she did cosplay.

The woman gestured toward the guy in the wheelchair. "I'm sure he's nicer than he sounds. Victoria Witherspoon knows what she's getting into. All in all, getting old isn't so bad, but loneliness is a terrible thing. But then, maybe you're lonely too, even though you're young."

Seth looked into watery blue eyes that had probably seen a lot in their day. He pictured his apartment and the empty bed waiting there. He wondered if she knew it was loneliness that had gotten him all dressed up to go to the grocery on the mistaken belief he'd find other gay men. She probably did.

He stared after her as she strode toward the cocktail peanut aisle, her long red coat billowing out behind her. He was half inclined to follow her and see if he could start another conversation with Dakota, but that was probably just his loneliness talking. It was better to pick up some milk and go back home.

Seth made his way to the dairy cases in the back. He had just pulled out a half gallon of 2% when he spotted an old man standing in the corner beside the cheeses. He wore a suit and tie, his thinning gray hair neatly combed over his bald spot. He was watching a man in a lovely blue sweater shop for cheese. But he looked away quickly when the cheese shopper glanced up. The longing in his eyes made Seth's heart ache.

With one last glance at the man in the suit, the cheese shopper wandered away. The man in the suit seemed to wilt as he went. He watched him go, then slowly made his way to the cheese section to stand in the exact spot the other man had just left.

Seth turned to go and saw Dakota watching the scene from behind him.

Dakota gave him a sad smile. "They come every week and have exactly the same non-interaction right here in the store. I've never seen them speak. Neither of them seems able to make the first move. I think of them as star-crossed lovers."

Seth liked the way Dakota's eyes shone with the romance of it all. "Do you think we could help them out?"

Dakota considered him for a moment, then straightened his shoulders. "I'm always getting asked to play cupid at these things. It would be nice to do that for a couple of guys for a change."

"So it is gay nineties night."

Dakota smiled at him. "Well, between you and me and these guys, it is." He nodded toward the guy in the suit, still staring mournfully at the cheese. "How about you chat up this one. I'll grab the other, and we can meet in aisle seven by the cereal. It's way past time they spoke."

Seth clocked the information that Dakota had included himself in the gay group. He'd think about that later. For now he concentrated on the melancholy old man in his well-fitted suit. He pictured himself in forty years, thinking maybe he'd found the one but not being willing to risk finding out if he was wrong. It was a heartbreaking thought.

He turned to Dakota. "I'm not very good at casual conversation."

"We're having a nice conversation now." Dakota rested his hand on Seth's arm again, sending tingles all the way up.

Seth would do anything to have Dakota keep looking at him like that. He took a deep breath. "I'll see if I can get him to aisle seven."

Dakota beamed at him, patted his arm, and turned to go. Seth watched him. Lawful good, that's how he seemed. You didn't meet people like that in real life very often. The thought was very comforting. Once Dakota turned down one of the aisles, Seth shifted his attention back to the guy he was supposed to get to aisle seven.

People liked to be helpful. Maybe that was the strategy he should take. "Can you help me?" he asked once he got close enough to talk.

The old man looked up, his gaze open and curious.

"I'm looking for the cereal aisle." Seth hoped that the man wouldn't wonder why he couldn't read the aisle signs and find his own way around the store.

The man brightened. "Of course. I got confused, too, when I first came back. I was gone for a long time and while I was gone they changed everything around. I'm Michael, by the way. I'm an oatmeal man myself. It lowers cholesterol, you know. I used to eat eggs and bacon every morning, but then, after the heart attack, my doctor put me on a strict diet. It's not as much fun, but it's better than dead." As he talked, he walked Seth toward aisle seven. He paused at aisle four and gestured at the pet food. "You're not going to believe this, but once it took me fifteen minutes to find the poop bags, and they were right here all along." He shook his head and continued on. All that sadness had dropped away. Evidently he did like being helpful.

As they turned the corner to aisle seven, Michael stopped suddenly and fell silent. Dakota stood beside the man at the other end of the aisle, pointing out a product on the top shelf.

Michael ducked back and flattened himself against the aisle endcap. He gestured with his thumb and whispered, "That's the cereal aisle."

"Are you okay?" Seth asked. Michael had gone very pale.

"It's my ex. I don't want him to see me. You go ahead and get your cereal. Don't worry about me."

Seth stepped back behind the endcap to stand with him. He was supposed to get this man into aisle seven so Dakota could get the two of them together. He couldn't stop now. He tried to reason with him. "I've had a few bad breakups myself. I don't think hiding works. Are you sure you don't want to see him?"

"I blew it." Michael slumped against the shelf behind him. Seth caught a jar of peanut butter before it hit the ground. "I ruined my life."

He looked so distraught that Seth touched his shoulder. "It can't be that bad."

Michael looked at Seth for a long moment. "You're young. You think you've got your whole life ahead of you, but just one mistake can derail everything. Don't let that happen, or you'll end up like me, a lonely old man hiding behind a waffle mix display."

"Maybe if you said you're sorry, he'd take you back."

"It's too late for that."

"When did you break up?"

"1992."

Seth stared at him. "That's the year I was born. He should be over it by now. What happened that was so bad?"

Michael sighed. "I was ambitious back then and took a job across the country without consulting him. I guess I just assumed he'd come with me. I thought his job wasn't as important as mine, and then I let my ego get in the way, and things got said that couldn't be unsaid. Believe me, he doesn't want anything to do with me."

None of that sounded irreparable to Seth, but you never knew about other people's relationships. "If you don't want to get back together with him, why come here when you know he'll be here?"

"I just want to see him. Is that so much to ask?"

Seth shook his head. "It's not too much to ask. It's too little to ask. Just go talk to him."

Michael shook his head. Seth watched him walk away. It was one of the saddest, stupidest things he'd ever seen. And now he'd failed Dakota. He didn't know what to do next.