"Can I help you?" he asked.

She held up a thin flattened yellow cardboard box.  "I hope so.  I want lightbulbs.  Regular lightbulbs, not weird ones, just old fashioned bulbs, like these," she said, shoving the box toward him.

"I know exactly what you mean.  I don't like those white, glaring things either."

"Brutal.  They make everything looks horrible and cold."

"Okay," he said, leading her to another aisle.  "They should be right here,
he muttered, bending down, moving boxes around.  "What watt?"

"One hundred, soft white, please."

"Ah, there are two boxes, with four bulbs each," he said, standing up and handing them to her.

"Thank you very much.  You've been wonderful.  Can I talk to your boss, or fill out an employee thank you card or something?"

"Oh, I don't work here," he said.

"Excuse me?"

"You just looked like you needed help, that's all."

"Seriously?"

"Yes.  I just stopped in to get cat food."

"I'm sooooo sorry," she said, looking at the floor.  "Really.  I just thought..."

"Not a problem."

"What's your cat's name?"

"Lynn," he said.

"Why didn't you just tell me you didn't work here?"

"You needed help, I knew where the bulbs were, because I just bought some the other day, and," he said, "I though maybe we could get coffee sometime."

"There's a coffee bar in the front of the store.  My treat," she said.  "Think of it as apology brew, as well as a nice meeting you cup."

"I can do that," he said.

"Tell me about your cat," she said as they started walking toward the aroma of ground beans..