“for the first time in an age, he saw the beauty of the stars, rather than the darkness between them.”

“He dressed quickly in silence, refusing her tissues. He shakily pulled a wad of uncounted notes from his wallet, abandoned them in the no man’s land between, and escaped in an indecent haste, leaving the shameful tableau in his wake.”

“for the first time in an age, he saw the beauty of the stars, rather than the darkness between them.”