“Sometimes,” Gregor mused, “all a guy needs is a little hope, right?”

“Sure,” replied Matti as he tapped the side of his glass in hopes of a refill.

“And friends. A little hope, and friends.” He added a couple of fingers to Matti’s glass.

“Absolutely,” agreed Matti, “particularly if several are female.”

Gregor added a little to his own glass and raised it in a toast. “To friends. Several of which need to be female.”

“It’s going to get harder and harder to find them here, you know,” said Matti.

“Hope, friends or girls?”

“All three,” laughed Matti. “So, have you convinced yourself yet?”

“Yeah. Before you arrived, really. I’ve been watching rockets leave all day. Did you really mean it? What you said about being a cook?”

Matti just smiled. “Let’s go line up. They stopped requiring tickets weeks ago.”

“I’m right behind you. Who knew they were going to take all the hope with them too.”