Jennifer turned, squatted down, and smiled that fantastically wide smile that I remembered. ‘Ooohh. That looks good. What flavor is it?’ ‘Vanill...! I only like vanilla, Mommy, you know that.’ Jennifer took the little girls left hand while the right was occupied with the ice cream and led her over to me. I was trying not to stare. Jennifer was a mother. She had a daughter. That meant that she was probably married and settled and had moved on with her life. Meanwhile, I was… still hooked. Jennifer. I knew I could always negotiate my way out of any deal later but just then I could only think of my overdue orgasm. While he considered the possibilities, I was doing the same- anal, threesomes and the other types of fetish sex that guys usually fantasize about and hope to one day find a willing partner to try it out with. ‘Have dinner with me.’ Have what now? I was sure I misheard. Had he just asked me to dinner? ‘Dinner?’ ‘Yes. Dinner.’ ‘You want to have dinner? … With me?’ ‘Yes,’ he. There was anotice addressed to us welcoming the team to Japan and announcing adrinks party that evening and then a long list of all the facilitiesavailable within the complex. As we stood reading it a figure appearedin a black uniform announcing that he was the hotel manager and he wasat our service at any time. His English was excellent and he gave out anair of competence and efficiency, though with a certain icy ness. Thehotel offered a lot of things to do, though none of us felt like goingto. In one sense, they see an eighteenth birthday as a magic day, but in reality, it isn’t. Neither is turning twenty-one, for that matter. Or sixteen when we can get our driver’s licenses. I’m eighteen and could go out totally on my own, but my parents still treat me like a kid sometimes. I’m sure I’ll have the same struggle.”“Why?”“Because I think my parents want to protect me and I’ll want to protect my kids. Just like your parents want to protect you and your sister. I think it’s natural.”“And.