"You wait right here. I'll be back in a moment."The moment turned out to be about five minutes. When she returned shehad a small tote bag of items whi...h she set on the counter behind her."First your hair, before it dries completely."She took a hairdryer from the bag and a tube of mousse. Before I couldreact she had squeezed a handful of mousse into my hair and was workingit through the tangles. My hair was somewhat long for a guy; not quiteto my shoulders but below my ears all around. I'd been. As I watched she placed her head next to Duke's and with a look of amazement upon her lovely face she suddenly looked at me and then back at Duke."My, My, My! What fascinating thing your dog wants to do to me like he does to your wife!"My mouth slowly dropped open. The genie gave a musical laugh and then said "Oh Yes, genies can understand animals. Well, enough of this before I get carried away! Down to business! You have released me and being the highly educated modern man you are, you already. Abigail was on his mind. The memory of the way her beautiful blue eyes had widened when he began yelling at her, the way her shoulders had hunched in ate away at him. He wanted to kick himself. Why the fuck did he have to explode like that? Yeah, he’d been terrified when she’d run out of the apartment, wondering if maybe he’d gone too far teasing her. He’d wanted to call, but she’d tossed the phone on the counter before racing out the door and down the steps. He’d overreacted. Seeing her mother. ”“And now, ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.”Ronald was actually still at CIA headquarters. The camera was showing him in the foreground, with the smoking hole in the ground in the background. Marcia murmured her approval of the staging.“My fellow Americans, today ... we were given a lesson. The United States is one nation on this planet among many. We have been fortunate ... very fortunate ... to not receive a message such as China, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, or many others.