I looked up from my dressing table. “Does my bum look big in this Joe?”

A smirk spread across his face. “It does, but you know I love that about you.” He gripped my shoulders, leaned down, and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. " Now quit fishing for compliments; we’ll be late for the movie. The cab’s already here." I smiled warmly and finished my makeup.

The evening ambled on, cuddling in a cinema becoming coffee in a little cafe, coffee becoming a moonlit walk by the a river. It was high summer, and the stars shone more clearly that night than I had ever seen before. Joe pointed to his home planet. “If we were there now…”

Suddenly we were surrounded by a group of young thugs. “The keys” one said to Joe.

“No way. Not mine to give.”

“The keys! Now!”. This one must have been the leader. He stepped in close, pressing a knife to Joe’s throat. The others moved in tight. No one else would have known, but I could tell Joe was afraid for both our lives. His response was still the same.

“No.”