.. Mrs. Ibarra?" I ended in a question, though I had little doubt of her identity."Please, its Edwina," she reminded me."Of course, please come in!" I...stepped aside and waived her in. "I was expecting the technician for the internet company to be coming by. When the doorbell rang, I thought you were him." Well, I won't stay long," she said, which was when I noticed the foil-wrapped object in her hands. "I thought to drop something by for you, in case you hadn't gotten yourself situated." Thank. One becomes utterly convinced that nobody, anywhere, at any time, has ever suffered such exquisite agony.This was to be my experience on this particular October afternoon. I'd put in a truly heroic effort to complete the project entrusted to me before the deadline and my boss had appreciated it, giving me a wide smile and two days off - "mental-health days" as they're sometimes euphemistically called. How could he know - how could either of us know - that this day would be anything but a time. " Those grey eyes flashed. "Can you imagine? You're out on a date, and you see your DAD curled up in a booth with somebody who's NOT your mom? She confronted him. He talked his way out of it, the first time. It happened again. He told her that WE were working through 'issues'. And all that time, HIS out of town trips..."I twinged. It must have been noticeable."No, Steve. NOT the same. We, he and I, we were under the same roof, but the marriage? He'd tossed that out YEARS ago. I don't feel. ’ ‘Awesome,’ I said, grateful that Jennifer had been the stronger one. ‘Can I help get her in the car?’ Jennifer asked. ‘Sure,’ Mom said. ‘I’d appreciate that.’ When she was putting me in the car, she whispered to me, ‘That’s one point for us,’ she said, grabbing my breast. As we were driving to the therapy center, Mom asked me about Jennifer. ‘Do you like Jennifer better than Mrs. Thompson?’ ‘I wouldn’t say that, Mom. I think it’s just that Jenni is closer to my age. She challenges me more.