As I was leaving for the Supermarket with Lisa, Cathy was warming up her voice. I really hoped she did well in this audition. She really is talented. I only wished that some of those genes had gone into Lisa.

When I got to the Supermarket, I put Lisa in the cart and started walking around. "Do we need lettuce, Lisa?" I asked her holding up a head of lettuce.

"No!" Lisa squealed smiling. "No, no, no, no, no!" She started laughing and then she hiccupped. She started laughing again, which made her hiccup again.

Translation: Yes.

I continued walking down the aisles when I heard a man talking on his cell phone. "Honey, do we need any cereal?" the man's voice said. Wait…

"Richard?" I said as I turned to the next aisle.

"What?" Richard said as he turned around. He went back to his phone conversation. "No, not you, honey, an old friend just surprised me."

"Old friend?" I asked. Richard gave me a Look, and I rolled my eyes but stayed quiet. Besides, it would be easier to hear his conversation.

"No, just an old friend. I swear. Why would I cheat on you?" He said. Here I laughed a little, which received another Richard Look. "No, I'll be home soon. Okay, bye Heather." Heather? Heather as in Cathy's best friend? As in Cathy's backstabbing no good horrible friend Heather? Lovely.

"So now I'm an old friend?" I asked him.

"Yes, it's what I call all my ex-girlfriend's ex husbands whom she loves more than me during our relationship, even though she denied it," Richard said evenly.

"What do you call your ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend, who also happens to be her ex-husband?" I asked just as evenly.

"I call them crap," Richard said.

"Funny," I said laughing, "That's what I call my girlfriend's ex-boyfriend who broke up with her for her best friend."

"If I know anybody like that, I'll let him know," Richard said, starting to push his cart away. I stepping in front of him and blocked him.

"I meant you, jerk face," I said, breaking my calm attitude.

"I got that because I notice subtlety, unlike some people," Richard said, also breaking his evenness. "See, when somebody starts to push their cart away from someone else, that means that don't want to talk to that person." Richard started to move away again, but I blocked him again. I would not let him go that easily.

"See, when somebody blocks another person from leaving," I said. "That means the conversation isn't over."

"Well, I think this one is," Richard said bumping my cart. This rattled my cart and upset Lisa. I picked her up to calm her while Richard got away. I hate it when they get away. I decided this time to let it go, though. After all, we still needed milk.

As I walk through the Supermarket, I get this odd feeling I'm being watched. Every time I turn around, though, nobody is specifically watching me, so I try to forget it. I'm on line checking out and someone pulls up behind me. This shouldn't sound unusual, but for some reason, it is. When I put my packages into my cart, I realize the person behind me is Heather. I realize who has been watching me. "After me now?" I ask, letting her know that I know what she has done.

"Why would I?" Heather asked innocently.

"You seem to want every other boyfriend Cathy has," I say smiling. If her smile fades, it is only for half a second.

Her innocent look is back when she says, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Her smile was more than an innocent smile; it challenged me. It was saying, 'Go on and say it. You know you want to. Tell me what I did was wrong.' I don't take the challenge, though, that is just what she wants

"Of course you don't," is all I say as I leave. I look down at Lisa and I feel so blessed to know that Cathy and I will start a family and not have to deal with people like Heather or Richard anymore. Hell, they deserve each other.

I'm home soon and I see a message on the machine. I'm hoping its Cathy with good news. I play the message. It's not Cathy. "Heather's missing. I don't know where she is, but she's not here. I thought she might be there. It's Richard, by the way. If you see her, Cathy, tell her that I, uh, I'm waiting for her. Uh, okay thanks. Bye." That jerk. Does he really think he can call here and do something like that to Cathy? I dial his number from the Caller ID to tell him off.

"Hello?" Richard says as he picks up his phone anxiously. I can tell he's hopeless without her. I don't know why he is or how I can tell, but I just know. Call me chicken, but I don't curse him out like I planned.

"I saw Heather at the Supermarket today," I hear myself say.

"Jamie?" Richard asks surprised. I can't blame him. If I were he, I'd be surprised I was helping him out.

"When I was checking out, she was behind me. I thought- I thought you might want to know," I said. "It was about twenty or thirty minutes ago."

"Thank you. Thank you so much," Richard said, and I could tell he was seriously grateful. It was a bit…awkward.

"Well, like I said, I just thought you should know," I said lamely. "I mean, I heard your message on the machine, so…"

"You live with Cathy?" Richard asked, completely changing his tone.

"Well…yes," I said.

"So you know about the call earlier," Richard said. "I mean, when Heather found out I called earlier, she threatened to leave. Now she has and it's scary, you know?"

"You called?" I said, still stuck on that.

"Yes, earlier this morning," Richard said, making it sound like I was dense.

"Did you guys talk long?" I asked.

"No," Richard said. "She said wrong number, even though we both knew it wasn't. We barely talks, but I said I was sorry."

"You think that can solve it?" I asked. "You think she will forgive you now? You think now she'll be your friend again?"

"I don't expect her to ever forgive me, but knowing she at least heard me say I was sorry is enough. I guess you think that sounds dumb," Richard said quietly.

"No, I understand. I felt the same," I said. I remembered just wanting Cathy's forgiveness, Richard wants even less. Maybe…maybe I can give him more.

"Do you…do you want to come over and be able to talk to her?" I asked. "She should be home from her audition soon."

"Thanks. I'll be over soon," Richard said. "Bye." I straightened up a bit- for Cathy's sake- and then he was over.

"Hey, come on in," I said letting him in.

"I really appreciate this. I mean, I didn't think you'd let me have a chance," Richard said. "I can't wait to see Cathy."

"Well, I remember wanting her forgiveness, I think she'd appreciate, too," I said, and I honestly did think she would.

"Well, I'm hoping for more than forgiveness, of course," Richard said, as if I should have known.

"But you said you only wanted forgiveness," I said. I was getting very confused.

"To some extent, yes," Richard said, "But who doesn't want more?"

"I don't want you to have more," I said. "I don't want you to ruin what Cathy and I have. I'll let you stay, get forgiveness, and then you will leave." Richard glared at me, then waited in the kitchen. I sat on the couch.

Soon, Cathy was opening the door. She saw me sulking there and her smile faded. "What's wrong?" she asked me. If only she knew how wrong things could be. I couldn't even get up the guts to say anything, so I just pointed to where Richard was standing. Cathy turned and saw him standing there. I could see a range of emotions from shock to anger to sadness to loneliness.

"Did he call you today?" I asked when I finally could talk again.

"Yes," Cathy said slowly, choosing her words. "But I didn't talk to him. I said wrong number and hung up. Why? Why are you here, Richard?"

I could see that Richard wanted to say he was sorry. I could tell he wanted to go up and kiss her. I could tell he still loved her. But I also could tell he knew that she had moved on. So he didn't say he was sorry, instead he said, "Heather's missing." He looked at me from the corner of his eyes and I slightly smiled in thanks.
Maybe he isn't that bad, but where's Heather?

(Thanks for your reviews! Sorry it's been so long, tests and all, yuck. But I'm back, aren't you happy? Will Richard blurt out his true feelings to Cathy? Will he do it even if they find Heather? Speaking of heather, WHERE IS HEATHER?!?! Please Review!)