"It would be my pleasure," he replies, shifting in just the slightest bit closer. She's a young and pretty thing, a revolutionary, a woman ahead of his curve –– just the kind he likes. He'd like to think she is as lonely as he is, too, seeing as her boyfriend left so many months ago, just as Cassandra has left him now, and Stephanie, too.

He leans in enough to brush the tip of his nose against hers, but then pulls back a bit.