At first Kathleen Kelly thought it was a joke. She smiled at Joe Fox, shaking her head. Then the moment of realization. She wept uncontrollably, tears flowing down her adorable face.

He wiped her tears, and said, “Hello, Shopgirl.”

“I wanted it to be you,” she said, with conviction.

They kissed awkwardly, at first; then fluently.

A gunshot echoed through the park, as Joe Fox slumped to the ground holding his chest, his blood pooling up in the green grass.

“That’s for putting me out of business,” Kathleen said.

Another shot. “That’s for standing me up.”

A third shot. “That’s for wasting over a year of my life with all your stupid head games, you sadistic stalking son-of-a-bitch. To think, I actually found you charming at one point.”

“But, you said you wanted it to be me?” Joe managed, in between gasps.

“I wanted to have the chance to tell you that I just married your father, so now I’m a Fox. F-O-X. How’s that for taking it to the mattresses?”

“It wasn’t personal.”

“It’s always personal.”