Joseph, a walking loyalty extractor.

He wasn't sure when it happened, but something had changed for Joseph.

He first noticed it at the movies. He and some friends decided to eat dinner together and see a film afterwards. They were having a friendly debate about which movie to see. Beth, James, and Marcus wanted to see an action movie, but Joseph and Kat were leaning more towards a heist flick.

Beth excused her self to go to the bathroom. As she moved past his seat, she briefly brushed his back with her arm. She walked away and the group continued their friendly conversation.

"Looks like we're outvoted." Kat told Joseph. Joseph shrugged as he took a bite of his taco salad. He wasn't very concerned about this. He wasn't in the mood for an action flick, but he'd have a good time no matter what they saw.

Beth came back from the bathroom and sat down as the waiter brought their checks. "So," James said, "we've decided we're going to see that new James Franco movie at 7:45."

Beth frowned. "Actually, I think I've changed my mind. Can we see Museum District instead?"

Joseph was taken aback. Beth normally loved action movies and she'd been wanting to see this one for weeks. "Are you sure?"

She turned to him. "You want to see the heist flick, right?" He nodded. "Then we should go see the heist movie. I think it'll be fun. We watch too many action movies anyway."

Marcus spoke up. "Beth, this movie's tailor-made for you! Why would you switch votes like this?" He put his credit card on the tray and handed it to the waiter. "I say we still go to the Franco movie. We can catch Museum District next time."

To the group's surprise, Beth was adamant. "No, we can catch Fire Bridge next time. We're going to Museum District. End of discussion."

Kat shrugged. "Hey, I'm not gonna argue with that. Museum District it is!" As the group signed their receipts, they all tried to move past the awkwardness of Beth's sudden inflexibility.

Joseph wondered about it. He'd always harbored a little crush on Beth but he never picked up any signals from her. She had just been through a bad breakup a few months earlier and he had been a shoulder for her to cry on. He knew better than to try to make a move while she was still licking her wounds, but he still hoped that there might be some chemistry between them. Nothing ever materialized, though. He had more or less given up his hope of dating her and moved on.

Tonight she was acting weird. After her sudden change of heart about the movie he was scrutinizing her behavior a little more closely. She seemed to smile a lot more at him, and he noticed that when they left the restaurant she walked by his side. They had carpooled and Beth worked it so that they'd be sitting together in Marcus's backseat.

As they drove to the theater, they talked excitedly about the movie. It was clear that Beth wasn't very interested in it, but she still seemed eager to see it. It might have been wishful thinking, but Joseph thought she was subtly flirting with him.

They got out at the theater and everyone lined up to get tickets. Beth was standing next to him, chatting away about the film. Kat tried to cut into the conversation a few times but Beth kept edging her out. Finally Kat moved past them, gently touching Joseph's arm as she did. They got to the front of the line and paid, then took their tickets and entered the theater.