" I looked a bit puzzled; Roger replied, "Surely you remember Janice?" I nodded; Roger continued, "Even though we're no longer going out, we're still friends." I looked a bit puzzled; Roger replied, "Surely you remember Janice?" I nodded; Roger continued, "Even though we're no longer going out, we're still friends. And Janice hates John with a passion. Their relationship ended much like yours is doing: with John getting violent, though not quite to this ex- tent. He let her go after a week, and she never filed charges -- she said that she had no evidence it wasn't just another game, and he could point to her collection of toys when defending himself. I didn't agree, but it's not the sort of thing you can push a lover into doing, especially after a couple of years." "Anyway, by morning I had compiled a complete list of numbers for her to call; one of them eventually worked. I couldn't make the calls myself -- I had to give your presentation." I jumped up. "Roger! How did it go? What did you say about me?" "No problem -- I said you had a bad stomach virus, but would probably be in tomorrow. And I think things went quite well; they really liked your stuff, even more than mine, I think." He paused. "You always keep the best parts of these bids for your- self," but he was smiling as he said that. I smiled back at him. "That's my real pay for running the busi- ness, and tending to all the paperwork. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. |