I wanted a date with Lianna, but she was not the easy kind. I asked, begged, cried, made her laugh, had enough, dated other girls I didn't like, moved out of town, came back, bought a car, bought a house, married another woman, got some children, got a divorce, dated other girls again (older ones), aged, got fired, got hired, had cancer, was cured miraculously, got better, had a good time in a cocktail lounge, drank too much beer, was involved in a car accident, wasn't injured, just a few stitches, had to take the subway home, sat on a bench waiting for the train to come, saw her sitting opposite, made wild gestures, didn't caught her attention, saw her climb on the train, lost her for the second time in my life, looked her up in the phone book, just couldn't believe I never had thought of that before, found her number and address, called her, got a man on the line, hung up, couldn't sleep, went to her place at dawn, waited at a nearby diner, drank too many coffees, almost missed her coming out, forgot to pay for the coffees, ran after her, she walked so fast, and then I heard the siren, the deafening howl that told us that the end of the world was due in a few hours. We all stopped. Lianna turned around and saw me panting in the middle of the street. So she asked me how I was doing, I said fine, what about you, she said I'm doing fine too, for now, she added laughing, I said what about a coffee, just for a few minutes, for old times' sake, we're running out of time, aren't we ? Yes she said, so I eventually got a date with Lianna, thanks to the end of the world. When we went into the little coffee house the siren