I quicklyclamped my legs back together and swung in my seat so that both feet hitthe ground together. The driver offered his hand, and taking it, I s...oodup in my heels, a slight smile crossing my lips as I realized howunnaturally natural they suddenly felt.As I walked to the restaurant door, it, of course, was opened for me (butthen that happened when I was a man too, I rationalized), and as Icrossed the threshold, if I felt like every eye in the place was on me,it's probably because it was. It had. Wondering what difference it made, she admonished herself. So I used it. Big deal. It’s not as if it’s earth-shattering news. Get a grip! Biting her lip, she reached for a tissue to clean off the lipstick. Before she noticed what she was doing, she found her fist wrapped around the inert toy, separated only by a layer of Kleenex, cleaning it off in a twisting, pseudo-jacking off motion. Memories of last night’s festivities turned up the corners of her mouth. She brought the toy. Unbeknownst to Triot, Thantas was still keeping a close watch on him and his progress. It was as she feared Triot was increasing his mental strength. For a moment she thought she should notify Sam then decided that he, more than anyone else, already knew.‘Strange,’ she thought, ‘the more time that passed the more familiar Sam felt. She hadn’t felt anything like she was since her family had been alive.’Onboard their ship it appeared that Drivas was starting to have a few problems. She’d already. He had helped her clean the pool, the pool cleaner on Oona's list of the distrusted, and they'd played like kids in it for over an hour, along with Mike and James and Oona. Everyone seemed to be having an extraordinarily good time. But Marisol suddenly looked sad, as if a cloud had darkened the sun of her mood."Nothing. Nothing now. In fact it's never been better. I don't think it ever will." When I can get past my stupid dependence, I'll get us out of their shadow, and we'll have many more.