By MySoapBox

She sat in her Porsche, the engine idling as she watched the storefront. She looked down again at the paper and a feeling of dread overcame her. How could she do this? The search area was so large and she didn't even know exactly what she was looking for.

Gathering her courage, she turned off the engine and reached for the door handle. She paused. Many agents had been hurt, even killed, thinking they could complete missions on their own. Perhaps she should call in some back up. A good agent always knows when she's in over her head. She pulled out her iPhone and thought of the possibilities. But even in the process of doing so, she knew there was only one person that she trusted to help her with this.

She found the number and pushed the call button.

"Ellie? It's Sarah." "I'm in the parking lot now." "Can you help me?" "Great. I'll see you in five."

Help was coming. Until then she would wait in the car.

Sarah felt a surge of relief when Ellie pulled up into the space next to hers. She met her at her car door and wordlessly handed her the paper.

Ellie read down the list. "This doesn't look too hard. We should be done in a jiffy."

Sarah took courage in Ellie's confident smile. "I really appreciate this," she said.

"Happy to help," Ellie said. They turned to the building and walked side-by-side into the Super Wal-Mart.

An elderly man met them at the door with a large smile and a jaunty "Welcome to Wal-Mart." Ellie smiled graciously and thanked the man. Sarah, who didn't smile, but eyed the man suspiciously, took the shopping cart. Ellie stopped Sarah and reached for the disinfecting wipe dispenser. "Swine Flu," Ellie explained as she wiped down the cart handle. This mission was going to be more dangerous then Sarah thought.

Properly sanitized, Sarah pushed the cart into the store. Thump, thump, thump. Sarah looked at the vibrating back wheel with frustration. She turned to return the cart when Ellie grabbed her arm.

"Don't bother."

"But this one's defective," Sarah protested.

"They're all defective," Ellie explained. "Just think of some old Beatles song to hum as we walk along. That's what I do to make it less irritating."

Past the toilet paper, beer and clothes detergent was the milk and dairy section.

"Why is this hidden back here?" Sarah asked as she loaded a half gallon of skim into the cart.

"It's a grocer conspiracy to make us walk across the store so we'll buy more stuff," Ellie answered.

Sarah nodded knowingly. She knew all about conspiracies. Ellie looked down at the list. "We need Ricotta cheese."

Sarah looked at the garishly lit refrigerated shelves. "Which one?" she asked. "No fat, low fat, fat free, what's the difference?"

Ellie looked Sarah up and down. "For you and my brother, I don't think it matters." Ellie tossed one in the cart.

As they rounded the next corner, Sarah was startled by a man's voice suddenly right beside her. She immediately felt for the Smith and Wesson at the small of her back. Turning to face the assailant, she saw only a flat screen TV hanging a few feet from her face. "I'll never mop again!" a man on the screen declared excitedly.

Ellie came up behind her. "I know; don't you hate those? It used to just be the overhead TV's, now they run commercials on the displays too. It's ridiculous."

"It's giving me a headache," Sarah confessed. Ellie nodded her agreement.

After adding cheese (fresh parmesan, not the canned stuff), lasagna noodles (never the 'oven ready' kind) and some cans of tomatoes (tomatoes come in a paste?) to their cart, Ellie stopped and skimmed her finger down the list. "Oregano, basil, all of these spices I already have at the apartment. Why don't you get the things for your fruit salad, while I run to sporting goods for a minute? You can handle produce by yourself right?"

Yes, Sarah could handle produce. She wasn't an idiot, after all. Ellie headed off mumbling something about golf balls and Sarah walked bravely towards the iceberg lettuce. She went down the isle adding strawberries, bananas and blueberries to her cart. When Ellie returned, Sarah had found everything except one.

"I can't find the lemon zest," she confessed.

Ellie looked confused.

"It says here, lemon zest. I found lemon juice and whole lemons, but no zest."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Get the whole lemon. I have a zester at home."

"A what?"

"You'll see." Ellie took the list from Sarah and reviewed their progress. "We just need the hamburger and we're done."

Mercifully, the butcher block was next to produce.

"Four twenty five a pound?!" Sarah complained. "I can buy a whole hamburger for that. And it comes already cooked."

Ellie put the small chub in the cart. "But who made that hamburger for you, Sarah? No one. It's meaningless. But when you cook a meal for the people you care about, it's a way to nurture them, and show them that you love them."

Yes, nurture them. That's what Sarah wanted to do. She wanted to show Chuck that she loved him by taking care of him as well as Ellie always had.

After loading the groceries in Ellie's car, Sarah said, "I'll be over in an hour to get started. You will be there, won't you?"

Ellie smiled supportively and gave Sarah a quick hug. "Of course. Wouldn't miss it."

As Ellie got in her car and went to close the door only the keen ears of a spy could have heard Ellie's true parting words: "Wouldn't want you to burn down the kitchen."