Sitting upon the clouds in the night sky, surrounded by eavesdropping stars, two beings watch the earth below them.

They hear the pleas of two broken hearts, who only seek faithful love. The cupids look at each other, knowing that Joy and Brent had tried to find love on their own before. And once years ago another pair of cupids had tried to bring them together. Looking at Joy and Brent now, with their hearts crushed, they know how badly the others had failed. 

Maybe their arrow's love power had expired? Any decent cupid would never be caught with arrows past their prime.

Brent, now on his knees in tears, touches the heart of the cupid observing him. She says, "We have to grant their wish, ya know?" 

The nearest stars around them shimmer wildly in agreement; after all, one of their own fell for love's wish.

"Yeah, you're right. How often do we have two people wish for the same thing on the same star at the same time? It's destiny, I tell ya," says the other as he watches Joy with sorrow.

"Oh, I totally agree." She smiles at her fellow companion sitting next to her on the large, puffy night cloud.

 "So, what's our next move?" He asks, always curious about her means to an end. She could come up with more unconventional ways to inspire love with more than just an arrow.

Turning to her cohort in the business of Love, she says, "I think it's time we have these two meet once again, only better. What say you?"

"I think it's a great idea!" He grins, and the stars sparkle even brighter with agreement.

"They've crossed paths many times but never connected." She says this while looking down upon Joy and Brent in sympathy for their torn and broken hearts.

He says, "I know. I tried to get the first cupid pair to nudge Joy and Brent in the direction they should go, but the Big Guy wouldn't allow me to intervene."

"Sometimes we have to do more than just nudge them in the right direction. We have to —" she smacks her hands together in a loud clap, "Make them come together."

The other one grins mischievously. "Are you sure we won't get in trouble? We can only nudge, plant suggestions, or influence their whims."

Looking down toward earth, she says, "These two have waited long enough, and besides..." She smiles at her cohort, " We have followed protocol for centuries; it's time to try something new." She always liked trying something new, people these days needed newer ways to be influenced by cupid power.

He smiles at her and takes her hand, saying, "Shall we begin?"

Nodding, she holds his hand as they descend through the starry night sky to set the meeting of Brent Rose and Joy Song in motion. They make plans, bicker, and disagree, but finally come to a mutually gratifying plan just as the sun shines a new morning into existence.

"Who shall you take?" she asks, hovering over the cityscape and looking back and forth between Brent and Joy.

"Well, we can always spin an arrow, and whoever it points to gets to choose first." He smiles, proud of his great idea.

"Okay. Your arrow or one of mine?"

"We can spin an arro..." he is interrupted. 

"Really? Are you kidding me!?" she sighs. "You take her, I'll take him." She flies off.

He sighs, "She always wins in love." He laughs as he flies to find Joy.

He finds Joy before his cupid sweetheart finds Brent. He hovers over her, not worried about being seen. Special cupid powers and all that. He smirks, self-satisfied with himself. 

She had just come out of the coffee shop. She pushes her reading glasses back up with the hand holding her soft leather Louis Vuitton briefcase while the other holds her coffee. The newspaper she had just recently folded up was clutched between her arm and body as she sipped from her coffee cup.  The heat from the coffee fogs up her glasses. 

"Mm, I like the smell of coffee, I wish I could drink it." he holds his hand over his tummy; his sweetheart would make him sleep outside tonight if he had any to drink. He knows cupids shouldn't have things like coffee but he can't resist at least inhaling the scent. He hovers closer to Joy and sighs in pleasure. 

"Shit!" She almost trips on the sidewalk and decides it may be best to wait till she gets to work before drinking. She wished she had removed her glasses before leaving the coffee shop after reading the paper's front page. But so much for wishes.

 She noticed she was late for work and tucked the newspaper under her arm and left. She would have to keep going with her glasses on. She sighs out of frustration as they slip down her nose again and blames Steven for her being scatterbrained this morning. She mumbles to herself. "I don't want to think about that now. I have too much to do."

But her mind won't leave him behind and keeps stabbing images of that night like a dirk into her thoughts. She wanted to stop and just scream out her anguish over his betrayal, but being on a busy public sidewalk was not the place to do so. "Shit! Don't start crying, don't you do it, Joy!" 

Noticing several people turn to look at her, she realizes she is talking aloud. "Shit!"

She picks up her pace, trying not to think about anything other than the work waiting for her in her office. Focusing on details, her mind is free of Steven. She is making good time with her brisk pace, even with having to push her glasses back up several times.

"Ugh, these damn glasses. That's what I get for buying cheap dollar-store reading glasses." She doesn't need glasses for everyday wear, just for when she needs to read. 

He giggles at her struggle with the ill-fitting glasses and hovers away but still close enough to keep an eye on her. He wonders how his sweetheart is doing with Brent.