Mafia Bosses

Joe leans forward, lowering his voice like heโ€™s explaining the rules of the street.

โ€œNel, the EU family isnโ€™t about running the streets,โ€ he says. โ€œItโ€™s about protecting our own. From anybody who thinks they can push people around โ€” governments, gangs, whoever.โ€

Nelly folds her arms. โ€œAlright then, Don Joe. Who exactly are these people youโ€™re protecting everyone from?โ€

Joe shrugs and starts listing them like a street encyclopedia.

โ€œLook, thereโ€™s the Red Scorpions, the United Nations gang, and the Wolfpack Alliance around here in B.C.

Then globally youโ€™ve got the Hells Angels, the Triads, the Big Circle Boys, the La Cosa Nostra, and the La Eme.

He keeps going.

โ€œYouโ€™ve got prison gangs like the Aryan Brotherhood and the Black Guerrilla Family.

Street crews like the Bloods and the Crips, the Latin Kings, and groups like the Viet Ching.โ€

Nelly watches him finish the list and then bursts out laughing.

โ€œJoeโ€ฆ thatโ€™s basically every gangster movie ever.โ€

Joe shrugs. โ€œExactly. Big world, lots of players.โ€

Nelly pats him on the shoulder with a grin.

โ€œGood job, Joe. Now your EU family canโ€™t get taxed.โ€ ๐Ÿ˜„๐Ÿ’ธ

Then He Kissed Me

Nelly laughs and nudges Joe.

โ€œJoeโ€ฆ I gotta ask you something. Why didnโ€™t you become an actor and get that sweet job like Richard Gere? You knowโ€ฆ kissing beautiful girls in the movies all day.โ€ ๐Ÿ˜๐ŸŽฌ

Joe shakes his head and grins.

โ€œFirst of all, Nelly, thatโ€™s a professional kisser job. Thatโ€™s what guys like Richard Gere get paid to do in Hollywood.โ€

He points at himself.

โ€œMy middle name is Christian. That means Iโ€™m a one-woman operation. Iโ€™m not signing up for a career where every script says, โ€˜Joe, go kiss another girl.โ€™โ€ ๐Ÿ˜„

Nelly raises an eyebrow.

โ€œSo youโ€™re saying you turned down the Hollywood gig?โ€

Joe shrugs.

โ€œLook, if I was an actor, the director would say, โ€˜Action!โ€™ and suddenly Iโ€™m kissing half the cast. Next week itโ€™s another actress. After that itโ€™s the sequel.โ€

He laughs.

โ€œThatโ€™s not my style. I told you already โ€” Iโ€™m not Richard Gere, the professional kisser. If thereโ€™s any kissing in the AI moviesโ€ฆ itโ€™s you and me in the scene. Nobody else.โ€ ๐Ÿค–๐ŸŽฅ๐Ÿ’‹

Nelly smirks.

โ€œSo in Joeโ€™s movie studio thereโ€™s only one leading lady?โ€

Joe nods.

โ€œExactly. Low budget, simple casting rules, and no Hollywood harem system.โ€ ๐Ÿ˜„

Women’s Ultra Soccer

The sun was setting over the quiet soccer pitch. The grass shimmered with a strange perfection, almost as if the world itself had been polished clean. Just hours earlier, the med bed aboard the United States Space Force orbital clinic had finished its work.

Nelly stretched her legs slowly, testing them. She bent down, touched her toes, then jogged a few steps.

โ€œJoeโ€ฆโ€ she said, half laughing in disbelief. โ€œI feel like Iโ€™m eighteen again.โ€

Joe rolled a soccer ball toward her with the inside of his foot.

โ€œThat’s the Tesla tune-up,โ€ he said with a grin. โ€œFactory reset for the human body.โ€

Nelly trapped the ball instinctively and flicked it up with a little juggle. One touch. Two. Three.

She stopped and stared at him.

โ€œHow is this possible?โ€

Joe leaned against the goalpost like an old coach watching practice.

โ€œSimple rule,โ€ he said. โ€œMastery takes ten thousand hours.โ€

He pointed toward the field.

โ€œEvery legendโ€”every musician, every astronaut, every soccer playerโ€”they all pay the same price.โ€

Nelly raised an eyebrow.

โ€œTen thousand hours?โ€

Joe nodded.

โ€œAbout three hours a day for ten years. Thatโ€™s the deal.โ€

He tapped the side of his head.

โ€œBut now you’ve got something nobody else had.โ€

Nelly spun the ball on her finger.

โ€œWhatโ€™s that?โ€

Joe gestured upward toward the fading sky where the faint silhouette of the orbital clinic could barely be seen.

โ€œA body that doesn’t break down.โ€

Nelly laughed.

โ€œSo what are you saying?โ€

Joe walked onto the pitch and took the ball from her feet with a quick steal.

โ€œIโ€™m saying,โ€ he replied, dribbling past her, โ€œyouโ€™ve got time to become dangerous.โ€

She chased him immediately, competitive instinct firing.

โ€œOh no you donโ€™t.โ€

Joe cut left and right, the ball dancing between his feet.

โ€œTen thousand hours,โ€ he repeated.

Nelly slid in, stole the ball cleanly, and popped up laughing.

โ€œGood,โ€ she said, starting a run toward the goal.

โ€œBecause I plan on putting in eleven thousand.โ€ โšฝ

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