“I beat you, I beat you!” she sang out.“Ugg, someone is too happy,” I heard someone say from the doorway behind us. “Mark? Why is the sky pu...ple? Did we die and I didn’t get the message?”I paused in my walking and looked back over my shoulder. Constance was standing in the doorway wearing a diaphanous robe over the t-shirt that had been her pajamas the night before. She raised an oversize insulated cup to her lips and took a sip as I watched.“It looks like the sun is a bit weaker than Sol. And. It was fairly modern for a 70's office building. I guessat one time the interior was very dark and looked like a stereotypicalold lawyer's office. When Bridget took the helm, I guess she wanted toopen it up a bit and make it warmer and inviting. I parked in theemployee area and walked in the front door and asked for Bridget."May I tell her what this is in regard to?" the young woman behind thereception desk asked. I tried to be as confident as I could be, given Iwas shaking like a. "Ah my sweet prince." She took his arm lightly as Tuck made the efforthooking his arm and providing a point of purchase. "I could not be morepleased with both your countenance and your company. We must make haste."They both laughed and headed for the door.The drive was short but filled with a lively conversation about this andthat. Tuck learned more about Mrs. Getty and her various businessventures, but it seemed she was able to draw more from Tuck than she wasproviding about her. His life. The roar of the engines inches from my left ear is deafening as the plane jolts down the concrete straining for airspeed. There is a particularly rough bump as the plane’s nose rotates upwards and the girl gasps and unexpectedly grasps my arm just as the machine leaps into the sky, free from the confines of the earth. Her fingers cling tightly to my biceps, and through my surprise I am suddenly grateful for that gym membership! Startled, I turn to face her in time to glimpse the sheepish look.