It wasn’t too long before the big guy returned, pushing a cart, and he was all smiles as he parked it right next to me. I was more than happy to dump all the figures into the cart, as my arms were starting to get tired from holding them all!  “Whew, thanks…” 

“Jacob! Jacob Black!” The big guy exclaimed in his friendly voice. He extended a hand, which I promptly shook.

“Nice to meet you, Jacob, I’m Owen Orious.”

“Nice to meet you too, Owen!” Jacob said. “This is my girlfriend, Renesmee, and my…uh…er…cousin…Alicia.” He continued, introducing me to the blond…Renesmee, and the tall girl, Alicia. Nice names, I guess, I couldn’t say I was thrilled to hear that Alicia was Jacob’s cousin and not his sister. Still family, still would probably be over protective.

“Nice to meet you all! You’ll have to excuse me for being kind of shy and stuff. I’m new in town. I just moved here from Ohio.” I explained.

“Ohio? That’s a long trip.” Renesmee commented.

“Yeah, I got a new job here…I work in computer graphics and design. I was ready to head to my new apartment and unpack my stuff, but I thought I’d go eat first.”

“So…you came to Wal*Mart?”

“Well…I didn’t mean to…I just didn’t see anyplace that really caught my eye, and I just sort of absently drove here. I’ll probably just grab a frozen dinner or something.”

The three of them chuckled, and then Jacob slapped me on the shoulder. “Well, nice meeting you Owen. Good luck with the new job and stuff! C’mon girls, let’s get out of here!”

“Are…um…are those super heroes for your son?” Alicia asked me, blushing deeper red than ever before. It was the first thing she’d said the entire time.

Now it was my turn to feel utterly embarrassed. A 38 year old man buying toys…for himself…not a great way to make a first impression. “Oh…uh…ha ha…well…no, I’ve never been married or had any kids or anything. Err, I’m sort of an avid collector of super hero stuff, and these are some of my favorite heroes and villains.” I told her shyly.

“Who are these guys?” Alicia asked, staring blankly at the powerful looking figure of Thor, even though his name was clearly on the box.

“Well, that particular guy is Thor…god of thunder! He’s awesome!” I exclaimed, probably with far more enthusiasm that I should have.