Yesterday afternoon, I headed to the nearest Safeway to pick up some goodies for my Housewarming Party on Saturday. My cart was loaded up with cases of soda, water, juice and fixings for sangria. And, when I say, "loaded," I mean that all of my items barely fit in the cart.

As I was trying to steer the heavy cart to the checkout line, a handsome Latino in a beautiful dress shirt and tie exclaimed,

"Wow! You must be really thirsty!"

I laughed and replied, "I'm stocking up for a party."

He got in line behind me, and we chatted about my party. I wasn't thinking of him in a flirtatious way, especially since I had just come from the pool and was wearing yoga shorts and a t-shirt. But, he was really cute!

I said goodbye and walked out of the store. Two minutes later, he saw me in front of the grocery store, switching items from my shopping cart to one of those travel/laundry carts.

"Can I help you with that?" Safeway Guy asked.

"I'm fine. Thanks, though," I responded with a smile.

He came around the gate to where I was with the carts and insisted on helping me transfer things from one cart to the other. Almost 30 minutes later, we were still outside talking. You know when you instantly connect with someone? That was how I felt with Safeway Guy.

We work in similar fields. We speak the same languages. Neither of us drinks alcohol by choice. His family is from a country near the place about which I'm writing my esoteric thesis. We both have dogs and prefer soy milk to whole or skim. Oh, and did I mention how cute he is?

For the past four months, he has worked a block away from my apartment building, but we had never met. Our paths finally crossed yesterday, and much to my dismay, his company is moving offices on Friday to Friendship Heights (several miles uptown). Safeway Guy gave me his card, and suggested that I e-mail him that afternoon before the move interrupts his Internet service.

As we said goodbye, he asked if I needed any more help and wondered if I had people who could help me the rest of the way up to my place.

"Like minions? Yeah, that would be nice. I'll start looking for an assistant for thesis writing and errands," I joked.

"You should get some minions," Safeway Guy insisted. "I'll apply for one of the positions."

We smiled and finally parted. Shortly after I got upstairs, I e-mailed him, and he wrote right back. He commented that,

"I'm so sorry I'm moving now that there is such a wonderful potential friend in the near vicinity. Not often one connects with another so quickly and on so many levels."

I blushed when I read those words and was excited that he felt the same way that I did! Safeway Guy said that I could call him at work today or that we could get together for lunch after the move. I sent him back a second e-mail, and mentioned grabbing coffee today if he had time for a break in the midst of the move. He did, and we made plans for this morning. I could tell that I was looking forward to it by the size of my smile as I read his e-mail confirming the time and place.

I knew a bit about his company, but wanted to know more so I used Google to my advantage. Sure enough, I found a lot about how successful he was and all the great work that his organization did. But, as I scrolled through one of his biographies as a conference presenter, I saw the following:

"Safeway Guy lives with his wife and two kids in Potomac."

I am so not going down this road again.

Did I go out for coffee with him today or cancel our plans?