Having left Flora and Jason temporarily to their fate, Mandy bustled about the house, daydreaming about new torments and preparing dinner.Having left Flora and Jason temporarily to their fate, Mandy bustled about the house, daydreaming about new torments and preparing dinner. Her spike heels clicked loudly on the kitchen tiles. Despite what she had told Jason, she had neither the need nor the inclination to go shopping. She was a firm believer in safety, and she checked up on her two subjects periodically through the peep-hole. As she was eating a snack lunch, she heard a yelp from one of the dogs, and looked out the kitchen window to check on them. One of them, Zeus, was apparently sleeping peacefully right below the window. She shrugged and had started to set out dishes on the dining room table when the doorbell rang. She jumped. That sound hadn't been heard since her father had installed the automatic gate seven years ago. She was suprised it still worked. "Now who in the hell can that be?" she wondered aloud. "The dogs'll tear them to shreds if they're not careful." She hurried to the door and opened it. On her doorstep stood a tall, attractive man wearing a mustache and a bowler, and carrying a sample case. He looked a bit old to be a door to door salesman, and she thought, a bit familiar, too. None of the dogs were in sight. |