I ran into her again at the audio and video rental store.

She didn't see me at first, but when I went up to the counter with my DVDs and CDs, she did.

"I'd like to check these out."

She looked up from her phone. Obviously a job like hers was boring. She blinked once and then chuckled.

"Fancy running into you here, of all places."

I shrugged. "Just gotta feed my music and movie fix." I gave her my card and she tilted her head.

"I guess we're now introduced," she read the name on my card, "Kim."

I peered at the placard on her uniform. "Nice to meet you, Shego."

She grinned. "You're probably wondering why I'm working here."

"No, not really." It was the truth.

She raised an eyebrow. "Part-time job to pay the bills."

"Ah."

I watched her scan the items and then put them into a bag.

"Here you go. Due in two weeks."

"Thanks."

"See you later."

I think I had a momentarily lapse of judgement at that point. It had been almost a month since our one night fling, but it had also been the last time I was with anyone in all senses of the word.

"Say," I walked back to the counter. "Are you free later?"

She gave me an amused look. "Oh, I don't know. Why?"

"You wanna hang?" I wasn't too sure what I was asking, or doing, at this point.

"What does 'hanging' entail?" She took the items from the guy who was standing behind me in line and scanned them. "Here. Due in two weeks on the twenty-first." She watched him walk away before giving me a pointed look.

"Um, I dunno." It was a stupid answer, but I honestly couldn't think of anything.

"Tell you what, Kim. Swing by here in," she looked at her phone, "three hours. I'll be done my shift."

"Ok."

I hovered outside the video store when it was almost time. What was I doing?

I suppose, at the time, I was just lonely. Ron and Monique had left for a road trip and wouldn't be back for a few weeks. I wasn't seeing anyone at the time and acquaintances come and go. So what was Shego going to be?

Just another stranger or something more?

I mulled over that question while I waited. Soon, she came out with her backpack; she had changed out of the dull blue uniform and into something I assumed that suited her better: tight jeans with a black tank and a leather jacket.

"Hey."

"Hi." For the sake of small talk, I guess I rambled for a bit. "How was the rest of your shift?"

"It's easy money when no one comes by."

"Ah. You said this was part-time. Do you work full-time too?"

She shrugged. "I'm a bit of a freeter. Only been working this one so far. You work?" She fished out a pack of cigarettes from her backpack and pulled out a lighter.

"I work in publishing... Just an office assistant job."

She waved the pack at me and I shook my head but watched her light the cigarette with a practised efficiency.

"Boring nine to five job?"

I nodded. "It pays the bills." I wasn't sure where we were headed but I followed her up until we reached Fifth Avenue and Pineway Boulevard. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere to unwind. There's a bar at the end of Pineway."

"Jimmy's?"

"Yeah, you've been?"

I nodded and continued following.

She blew out a puff of smoke. "Good thing you don't smoke."

"Why?"

"It ruins lungs."

'No shit' was what I wanted to say but I opted for something less offensive. "How long have you been smoking?"

I watched her take another puff and blow it out. She frowned in thought.

"Five years? Ever since I finished college."

We were approaching the bar. "What'd you study?"

"Economics."

I was perplexed by her part-time job choice but by the time we reached the bar, my thoughts were interrupted as she opened the door for me. And I had thought chivalry was dead.

We sat at the bar since all of the tables were taken. The waitress gave Shego a wink that I interpreted as a knowing one: most of the patrons seemed to have said hello to her on our way in, so I guess she frequented the bar often.

"My cousin owns the joint," she muttered when she saw me looking around.

"Cool."

I ended up getting the house burger and a beer, while she got something stronger and a quesadilla. It wasn't like we were on a date but I still felt compelled to make small talk.

"So..."

"So..." She was sipping on her lager and watched me from the corner of her eye. "Why ask me to hang out if you can't spit out what you want to talk about?"

I shrugged. She was a bit brash, I found. "Just needed some company, I guess."

"If you wanted company, you would go back home." She swivelled on the bar stool to face me. "So why me? Why not your friends? Wasn't there a blonde dude with you that night at the bonfire?"

"Out on a road trip with his girlfriend."

"Huh. So you'd rather hang with a stranger than be at home by yourself."

"I don't see what the problem is since you agreed to hanging out."

"Figured I'd humour you for a while."

"And then?"

She raised both eyebrows at me. "We're just hanging out."

"Good."

She took a bite of her quesadilla. "Does being lonely bother you that much?"

"Not exactly, but the feeling of knowing that it's just me out there by myself does."

"Alone to face your fears, alone to face the world... Stuff like that?"

"Yeah."

"I feel that way too sometimes but you grit your teeth and live your life."

I think I nodded. You sort of don't expect a stranger to understand how you feel. We ate in silence for the next little while before she asked me whether I wanted to go see a movie.

"What movie? I'm up for anything."

"You wanna come over then? I've got a vast collection of DVDs."

"From work?"

"Yeah, I get a pretty good discount if I buy them out."

"Ok, cool."

"Also, I wanted to say this before, but why the heck did you borrow those boring movies?"

"Work and something to watch to pass the time."

"Huh. Strange. Anyway, come by and we can watch something."

"I thought you said you were working to pay the bills."

She laughed. "I studied economics and have a business on the side."

"Oh, but what about being a freeter?"

"I'm lazy and don't want to be just another worker bee. Working in the video store helps me pass the time."

"What kind of business do you have?"

"Freelance investment consulting. Mostly been helping out friends who have businesses." She shrugged at me, as if it was just another job. If I recall, it's still a relatively high paying job.

"Cool."

"Anyway, working at the video store has allowed me to own quite a collection of movies. If you want to kill time, that is."

I nodded. What harm could it do if I just watched a movie with her?

We paid for our food and drinks and then headed off. It was late autumn at the time, so it was just starting to be a bit nippy outside. I remember zipping up my jacket and pulling the collar up to my ears.

We walked in silence as we turned a few corners and then arrived at a rather impressive townhouse unit.

The interior was just as impressive as the exterior: wooden floorboards and ...was that a marble countertop in her kitchen?!

"Here, just put your coat and shoes wherever." Shego was pointing into the living room. "Plasma TV and a bookshelf of movies."

Whoa.

"Whoa." I stared at the TV. It was huge. And then I saw the famous collection. Three bookshelves' worth of movies in VHS and DVD format.

"If you name it, I probably have it. At the price I'm getting these for, it beats renting or streaming."

"Amazing. You must love movies."

"Heh, I like watching them. Come on, pick one and pop it in. You want anything to drink? Water? Beer?"

"I'll have water for now." I stood in front of the first shelf and scanned around for a title I wanted to watch, but there was one thought that bothered me: what was I doing?

Shego came back into the living room with a glass and beer in hand. "Ah, good choice."

I had pulled out an action/adventure flick that was about infiltrating the mob underground. I wasn't paying attention when I pulled it out, but I guess if she thought it was a good choice, then we'd watch it.

I remember keeping my distance on the couch - I didn't want to give her the wrong impression, nor was this a date, exactly. The movie started out great, but I don't remember the end since I had fallen asleep...

When I woke up the next morning, I found myself covered with a blanket on the sofa.

I heard noises coming from - was it the kitchen? - somewhere in the house when I opened my eyes. It was a bit disorienting because I forgot that I had "slept over" at Shego's place.

The woman had stuck her head in the living room right as I slowly sat up on the sofa.

"Ah, you're up. Sorry, you seemed so comfortable that I didn't want to wake you when the movie was over... Nor do I think I wanted to make you go upstairs to the guest room in such a sleepy state."

"Umm, it's ok... And thanks for letting me crash... So I guess I missed most of the movie?"

"You fell asleep about half an hour in. I finished it though."

"Oh... Sorry." I noticed that the ashtray on the coffee table had two cigarette stubs. I guess she was smoking during the movie too.

She waved her hand at me. "It's ok. You wanna stay for breakfast? I just started the coffee maker."

"Umm, ok." I probably looked really dishevelled since my hair felt kind of greasy and my clothes were bit uncomfortable after being slept in.

"Give me ten minutes..."

"Uh, can I help with anything?"

"It's ok, I've got it under control. There's a bathroom upstairs on your right." She disappeared into the kitchen and left me be.

I folded up the blanket and figured I might as well try to look a big nicer and went up the stairs. There were three other rooms upstairs - one of which had the door closed, so I assumed that was Shego's room. The other seemed like a study room, and last room was empty. I guess she moved in recently or had no use for that room. When I got to the bathroom, I realized that I had nothing to brush my teeth with, but saw that there was a new toothbrush on the sink counter. "Use me" was what the sticky note said.

How thoughtful, really.

"Bacon and eggs... And toast." She passed me a plate as I came into the kitchen.

"Thanks and sorry for imposing."

She shrugged. "I don't mind the company."

We ate in silence for a bit before she audibly swallowed. "So... You feeling any better?"

I cocked my head at her in confusion.

"You were telling me you felt a bit lonely."

"Oh, that..." I'm pretty sure I blushed a bit. "I feel better now."

"It's a fleeting sort of feeling... I know what that's like... It comes and goes, but don't let that get to you... Especially with asking to hang out with strangers they barely know." She winked and I felt my face flush.

"When you put it that way..."

She shrugged again. "There's a difference between being lonely and wanting companionship. I think that night was the latter for both of us."

I didn't expect her to bring up that evening and now that she did, I did feel a bit embarrassed. "I actually wanted to blame the alcohol and pot for that, but... I guess that one is totally my fault."

She shook her head. "Nah, we're equally at fault... Although I think I might've spooked you when I, uh, sort of followed you home..." She rubbed the back of her neck.

"Ummm, spooked, yes, but not scared... In the end, everything sort of played out."

"Until now I guess." She shrugged. "What's going to happen next?"

"I'm not sure I follow," I found myself saying.

"What I mean is that I don't really do relationships-"

"-that is clearly not what I want... Between us, anyway."

She looked at me funny for a moment. "All right. Just a heads up: I don't really 'date' nor do I do relationships. So... Friends?"

It was a question so simple yet I felt butterflies in my stomach. "Yeah, friends." I laughed. "Maybe you can share that movie discount with me."

She chuckled. "Only if you don't want boring movies."

That was the start of our odd friendship.

Until one evening.