Qiao said a salient prayer to Lathander as she saw General Grodan approaching. “Himo,” she said to the wood elf who sat cross-legged among the gro...p of soldiers, sword for hires and adventurers. Himo had a way of being able to meditate almost anywhere and frequently waited until the last possible moment to rouse herself from her peaceful practice. Qiao did not want the General to think they were taking this less than seriously, and that was hard enough with Malark strumming on his lute.Himo. I couldn’t call Harlan until the afternoon since they were six hours behind us. I called the various companies on the west coast we had invested with and apologized for being out of contact. I promised a trip out west to discuss things in a few weeks. I let Bill in on my problems, since we had started to become friends. I would never have thought I would ever be friends with a guy like Bill Gates, but he was a decent guyI spent the day at the office, not even going out for lunch, and then drove. Considering his own past, he didn’t give much credence to this statement, but now he had his doubts. He resolved, once again, that his granddaughter would never see his tattoos. How did you explain to a young girl, someone you wanted to love you forever, that you got these in a prison in the Soviet Union because you had to? Maybe when she was a lot older. He’d been here about an hour. The restaurant itself wasn’t that impressive. It was a small square room that had been converted into a Thai. Sandy and Louis were coming down the stairs.Everybody saw my Father stiffen up when Sunny said, "Ben."Sunny stiffened momentarily herself but quickly recovered."I hope the traffic wasn't bad with so many people traveling. Here, let me take your coats." I'll get them, Mom," said Jeff, friendly and cheerful, too cheerful."It's lovely to see you again Joanne, Eh-Ben-E-Zer."He broke up the syllables differently from the way it should be pronounced so he could emphasize the "Ben." Jeff wanted to.