Swollen green papayas and a stack of prickly pineapples, the row of fruits at Green Grocer Station grew more exotic. The produce outlet was quiet in the lull between the day shoppers and the after work crowd.

Past the banana flowers, a young woman pushed her cart around a man and an older couple. He looked up with recognition. Unaware she headed towards the back

Yams and Yukon potatoes and a rainbow of bell peppers, the woman considered a bag of yellow peppers. A mother shushed her complaining toddler. Wailing, the baby protested by the fingers of poblano.

“Excuse me don’t I know you,” the man said.

The woman startled eyes wide.

“Sorry didn’t mean to surprise you. But I know you face from somewhere.”

Shaking her head, she reached for orange peppers and skirted past his cart. Her breathing was too shallow too fast. She hurried by shafts of leeks snatching a huge bunch of celery. She busied herself in the fresh flowers. Admiring garnet petals, she felt the weight of the stranger’s eyes. She grabbed a random finished bouquet and wheeled to the Vidalias and Walla Wallas.

Basil, onion, peppers, she ticked off the ingredients for her main course for her dinner paper by the beefsteaks. More customers were filling the parking lot.

“It was TV. I saw you online right on some show,” the man said leaning close to whisper in her ear. “Excuse me but are you famous? Trying to be incognito. You can trust me, honest.”

She hurried to checkout. The stranger’s nearness had triggered her fight or flight mode. The woman eyed her car near the entrance. So close, she thought. Quickly the middle aged cashier added up the items in her head but bagged slowly. The man rubbing his chin watched among jars of garlic.

As if drowning she sprinted with her groceries to her car. Her cart abandoned by the market entrance wheeled a little way aways. With a snap of his fingers the man remembered the news story where he had seen that woman’s pretty face. Remembering the horror of the news story drained his face of color. Blanched, he searched with his eyes to apologize.

Her car was already speeding out of the lot. A horn blared. Hurrying a young guy fetched the shopping cart. The man decided to just finish his shopping.