Roxie pressed her lips together in a thin, sad smile. "I'm sorry to hear about your loneliness, Tommy. It's never an easy thing." For all of her busy social life, there were few that Roxie could actually call a real friend. Maybe it wasn't as bad as what Tommy had - or didn't have, rather - but she felt as though she sort of understood the man.

What he said sort of hit upon something that Roxie had been feeling, too. There were too few men like Joe in the world, and the world probably needed him more than Roxie did, as selfish as she wanted to be about him. "He really is, isn't he? Look, I want you to be in town when he returns. I know Joe would love to see you again."