" The party roared on inside the house, and I could not believe that we would be missed if we disappeared into the dark for fifteen or twenty minutes,...long enough to whet our appetites and see if we wanted a more extensive second course."Why not the library?" I said, pushing her pointed bubbies up out of their whalebone shelter like a pair of gourds from a too-small sack. They gleamed white in the pale light, tipped with dark, bulbous knobs."Never," she panted, yanking up her stays with her. ’ I responded with confidence. ‘Hah, we’ll see when we meet the new one in a year.’ I laughed even though it wasn’t funny. I turned my attention to Mallory. She’s always been so passive. ‘So Mallory how have you been?’ I asked ‘Fine I recently got a job at a local hospital.’ she beamed with genuine excitement. ‘That’s great.’ I told her with a half smile. ‘What about you Mair-‘ ‘It’s Mairian to you.’ I blurted out without meaning to. Most people called me Mary, a shortened version of my actual. First, there was the problem of not being able to date. Second, there was my relationship with Tasha. Third, there was my recent talk with Maggie. Beyond that was the decision which loomed large over all the others — was Kimiko prepared to stay in the US once she graduated? And if all of THOSE things could be resolved, was pursuing marriage with Kimiko something I wanted to do? Something I should do?That raised the ever-present issue of practicality. Kimiko had three years before she would. Dad tsk’d.“If she finds out…”“She won’t. She worked a double today. You know she doesn’t wake up until at least noon the day after she works a double.”“How’d you know where I was?” Dad said. He reached for a nearly-full bottle of Jack Daniels that was on the table and poured some into a plastic cup. “I don’t suppose she told you.”“I heard her on the phone with Aunt Sheila.” Dad drank the whiskey in one gulp.“Well I’m glad to see ya buddy, but you shouldn’t have snuck out.”“But it’s been.