it.” “Yeah, but I like my men wild Sammy. I like ‘em really wild.” “I know Jen.” Sammy rolled her eyes and thought back to some of the men that her friend had dated over the years. “Remember the skinhead you dated a few years back. That one was wild and it went really well as I recall. Didn’t it?” “Okay that one was kinda bad.” “Kinda?” The skinhead had taken both Jen and Sammy hostage in a store when Jen told him that she wanted to see other people. He just kind of lost it and pulled a gun out of his waist band and pointed it at both of them. It turned out to be a twelve-hour hostage thing with the SWAT and police. “Okay it was a disaster, but what are the chances of that happening again?” Jen asked as the waited for the crosswalk light to turn green. “I’d say pretty likely if you keep dating those ‘bad boys’ like you always do.” “Whatever.” Jen dismissed her comment with a wave of her hands. “Did you see the news this morning that . . . ” Sammy zoned out as her friend went on to describe the hot actor she saw on the news that morning. In her mind she went over what she should wear tonight for her date with Tomas. He usually wore that black trench coat with a black vest and white long sleeves underneath. Now that she thought about it, she realized that those clothes were all he wore. She had never seen him in anything different. Maybe he just liked those colors and has a wardrobe of those same outfits, she thought. They reached the restaurant they had both worked at since their big career as stage actors withered and died beneath the spotlights. As Sammy thought about her life, she realized that she was a walking cliche. She was a failed actress in New York, whose career had dried up, no love life to speak of, and a friend who was wild and dated even wilder guys. All she needed was a cat and she would fit the role perfectly. You know I’ve always wanted a cat, she thought with a chuckle as she tied on her apron. Tomas watched the hundreds and hundreds of people as they moved around him in a wave on the way to who knows where to do something that to them in that moment seemed like the most important thing in the world. As he watched the daily races of the homo sapiens he could almost see why most of his vampire brethren hated them with a passion and saw them only as cattle to be turned- but then a man stopping to give hard earned money to a homeless woman changed his mind. These people only lived long enough to barely grasp life, but they still somehow found the time to be kind to others. Sure there were those who did more harm than good, but every now and then some shining example would make him think that maybe this species should be in control. It wasn’t like the vampires were doing a great job so far. Wars, murders, deaths by the thousands from diseases- no, the vampires weren’t doing so good at all. He thought all of this as he walked along 54 th street to where he was supposed to meet Sammy at Pescalero’s. He thought that tonight would be the night that he told her what he was and asked her to be his bride. He found that he hoped more than he ever had that this one would say yes. He had married hundreds of brides over the centuries, but this girl was something special and something that he had never encountered before. He had never had feelings for a bride like he had for this one. In short, he was in love with Sammy. He rounded the corner and there she was standing beside a newspaper kiosk with a little black dress on. He grinned and picked up the pace. As he touched her on the shoulder, she spun around with her big, blue eyes open wide. She smiled when she saw it was him and the smile lit Tomas up inside. “Good evening dear Sammy.” He took her hand and kissed the back of it. “Hi Tomas,” she laughed. “You’re such a weirdo. Kissing my hand like it’s the thirteenth century or something.” “Actually they didn’t start kissing the backs