Joe stole a quick glance at Jo as she put her coat on.

The date had gone phenomenally well, it was exciting, he really really liked Jo. It was only a first date but there was something about her that had stolen his heart. She was smart, quick, fierce, driven and confident; everything in a woman that Joe was attracted to.

But caution snatched at his bliss. Surely it was too early to be thinking such whimsical thoughts? Especially after his breakup with Grace. She too had been smart, quick, fierce, driven and confident; but as time went on, he had found out that the mix of these traits had not been beneficial to their relationship. Grace was driven but with work and for prestige, she was always chasing her next professional goal. She would jump at any chance to show that she was prepared to take the extra step. Her social life morphed into her work life, leaving Joe behind.

It had happened slowly, gradually until four years into their relationship Joe realised they hadn’t spent any time together in a month. She was working away so much that they had only shared their bed four nights out of thirty. Joe scheduled a dinner in her diary and brought the topic up, how could they fix this? Grace accused him of being jealous of her success and for not supporting her. Then she was gone, he paid the bill and headed home alone. Three days later he came home and found that her stuff had gone. She left a note.

Joe,

I know you can’t afford the rent by yourself and you relied on me for financial support, so here is the rent money for the month. I suggest you find somewhere more suitable to your salary.

Fuck you

Grace.

And that was the last he had heard from her. To say he had been devastated was an understatement.

“Hey you alright there?” Jo reached out and took his hand.

“Huh? Yeah, sorry.”

“You were well spaced out” she smiled sweetly

“I’m in food heaven right now.” Joe deflected.

“Ha. Me too.”

There was a pregnant pause between the two of them as they stood there looking into each other’s eyes. Joe just realised that Jo was as tall as him, she had the most luscious brown hair he had ever seen.

“So, end of the night. You want to grab a nightcap somewhere?”

Joe panicked; this was too much.

“Tonight has been brilliant but I have to be up early tomorrow. Let me walk you home.”

A surprised look passed across Jo’s face, which quickly phased into a seriously pissed off one. “Was that chivalry or condescendence? You think I need you to look after me?” Jo stood slightly taller, slightly prouder, she was Amazonian in stature.

“No. I mean… No… I have to be up early tomorrow. I was just…”

“Fine. Let me walk you home. I will protect you from any nasty man who tries to have their way with you.” A massive smile broke out, she was joking.

“OK” Joe said sheepishly. He had just fallen more in love with this woman. She took his hand and pulled him out of the restaurant door.

Only Joe didn’t find himself on the street outside. Instead he found himself in a circular room with a hundred doors with almost a hundred people stood in front of them. The memories of who he really was came flooding back to him.

Brilliant.

He looked to his left, there was Jo.

“OH SHIT”

“Ah…”

“We were just…” Joe pointed at the door

“Yeah”

“Brilliant” Joe grabbed his tshirt. Red with a purple 21 on, Jo grabbed hers, purple with a yellow 55 on it. “You’re number 55, did you know this would happen?”

“I forgot.”

“Brilliant, of course I fucking did.” Joe transformed his body back in her natural Jo shape.