THE MOMENT
"So... why should someone like you get to go to Mars?" Victoria asked. Rodney had forgotten it wasn't a date by that point; he thought it was going pretty well. They met at a coffee shop. Victoria was a beautiful woman with royal purple hair. She was smart and funny, and Rodney thought he was almost as funny as she was; he got his share of laughter out of her. It felt like a normal date, not that he'd been on any date in years. But, she asked him questions about his family, work, and future goals. When she dropped the question, he realized he was being interviewed. He was so distracted by the reality of the question that he couldn't think up a useful response. The only thing he could manage was the truth.
"I didn't put any thought into it," Rodney admitted. "I saw a chance to travel and help populate another planet...," he shrugged but managed to keep eye contact with Victoria. "...you already know I don't have a lot going on here." Victoria giggled.
"And.. what? You thought we'd just assign you someone to impregnate, 'the old-fashioned way'? If you had read the fine print you would have learned that we're looking for already established families and couples. Unfortunately, we don't have the room for an unemployed college dropout," Victoria said. "No matter how handsome he might be," she added.
"That's fine...," Rodney nodded. He was too busy accepting his fate of being forever alone to hear her compliment. "...I didn't really want to go anyway. Sorry for wasting your time," he said. Rodney moved to stand up, but Victoria stopped him.
"Wait," she said. Rodney relaxed and remained in his seat. "You really mean that," she said. "If you didn't want to go,... did you really sign up just for a date?" Rodney shrugged.
"It feels like I've spent every Valentine's day alone so far. I thought I'd try and find out what it feels like to be with someone this year. I decided I needed to put myself out there in a big way to do it...," Rodney sighed and stared at the table between them. "Though, I didn't expect it to be this embarrassing."
"You know what they say," Victoria grabbed his hand, then smiled when he looked up at her. "...embarrassment is the price of admission." Rodney looked at their interlocked hands then back at her. Possibilities about what she meant flooded his mind; but, he only managed a single word.
"Huh?" he asked.
"You're not joining the Mars colony," Victoria said. "But, you didn't want to anyway. So instead of packing up your life to move to another planet, why don't we go out on Valentine's day? As a date," she clarified.
"Aren't you going to Mars?" Rodney asked. As much as he wanted to say yes to a date, he had to be as sure as he could that she wasn't going to ditch him.
"Nah," Victoria nodded, then she wiggled her finger at the air between them. A small, red, plate-sized portal opened for a few moments until she dismissed it again. "I've already been there; it's kind of boring."