For lunch they gave me real food and it was a good thing I was being fed or I might have made a pig of myself. The aide made sure I didn't eat too fast or take giant bites. I discovered I actually enjoyed my food more and felt filled before I had even finished my dessert. Dessert? What else, green jello.

"Hey, it's only a little blood. I've seen more when I cut myself shaving."

Nothing I said seemed to have any effect. She kept calling for help in between hugging me and telling me I'd be alright. She kept muttering to herself, "not again, not again," before calling out again.

BEEP BEEP BEEP. Somebody needed to turn off the damn alarm. I tried to reach for it but all I felt was pain. I decided to go back to sleep.

I opened my eyes again and there she was right above me smiling. Just like in my dream. She kissed me. Then there were more faces. I wanted to tell them to get out of my dream but I couldn't make my mouth work.

I'd changed my wifi password the day she'd turned me away. I never expected she'd ever see it. Well, my secret was out now. I looked at her to see her reaction. At least she wasn't shaking her head no. Instead she was clutching the small bit of paper to her chest like her favorite doll.

She chased me out of the kitchen. I ran in the bedroom with her right behind me. She stopped and told me to take off my shirt so she could check on where I had been hit by the taser. I knew she was going to bug me until I did so I carefully took off my shirt. Sitting in the car and on the sofa had aggravated the dull ache. I heard her intake of breath as she saw the bandage.

I wish I could say my motives were as selfless as Christina thought they were. In part they were because by admitting to being at fault I diverted attention from him looking at her license. I knew if there were more than a cursory glance and he saw the M that I suspected was in the box for sex the whole atmosphere might change.

I decided to take Ms Lukes advice and poured myself a tumbler full of liquor from a dusty bottle that had been my dad's. Like him, I seldom drank except with clients to be sociable, so the large glass of straight liquor hit me hard.

Men! They can be so infuriating and thoughtless, that when they do something right it just takes the wind out of your sails. I could count the number of times I apologized to a man on one hand and most of them were to Tony.

I know I was glad she came, but why? She had pushed me away those weeks ago and it still hurt. I'm not sure I'm ready to have my heart ripped apart. I never really had her and now I wasn't sure I wanted her. Was she just here because mom died? Did she feel obligated to come?

At first he thought it was birds chirping but then realized it was girls tittering. Something was tickling his chest. He feigned sleep while listening to the girls whispering.

"They must be real. Look, they're getting hard."

Christina, that's all I could think about. Was I crazy? Was I willing to take on the shitstorm that would probably come down on me if I took up with her? How would my clients react if they found out? And I'm sure my competitors inside and outside the office would be more than happy to let them know.

Mom always told me I had a hot Italian temper like pop and I'd been on the receiving end of a lot of lectures and other less pleasant punishments for letting it get away from me. Despite that it was all I could do to not up and deck him when he said 'his perversion.' I was brought up short by Christina and he was brought to heel by his wife with just a few words.

Ghek felt the trembling and knew the time had come.

Gina had been stripping for years when she came across the Medallion of Zulo. She loved old clunky jewelry and had spotted this at a stand at the flea market. It was just the kind of jewelry she loved.