Last we left our regular un-reintegrated narrative, Joe had recognized someone from across the pharmacy parking lot while waiting to meet his online crush!  And in the Future Visions strip below, an explosion had just rocked SEMME headquarters as everyone was packing up.

SURPRISE!  Joe’s love interest was Rachel!  No, not Other Rachel, but Rachel!  And certainly not Robin!  WHAAAT?  CRAZY!!!!  That’s right, the supermarket cashier woman who Joe… was a shit to.  Yeah, well.  (When I was a kid, Rachel was a supermarket cashier woman?  But also a brilliant engineer?  For a middle few years after establishing this, I thought this maybe didn’t make sense, but then I got old enough to realize that getting out of college with a fancy degree does not a job hand you, so I boomeranged back.)

Anyway, earlier I left a big hint in the form of a “HER” and an arrow pointing to Rachel on a magazine in Rachel’s check-out aisle.  It was not the first time I’d done something like this.  Readers started poring through other strips, looking for hintful arrows.  I’m pretty sure those two were it.