The color looked a bit off. Knowing who she came with, he wondered if the idiot had spiked it. Her taste in guys wasn't the best ... but, then, natura...ly until she was with him he'd think that!"I didn't know you were friends with Cynthia. That was something, wasn't it?" He didn't detect any disapproval in her voice, for which he was thankful. He didn't know Alice that well, for all their years together in school."Well, I'm one of the few she occasionally consents to talk to. It's an honor,. "Well the same could be said for you and my Momma, Dotty. Not to mentionthe Bitch and the Beast."Doty snickered, "It's real name is actually 'Bitch'. But that's becauseit's so hard to find parts for and it has a lot of sentimental value.I've promised it to Missy when she gets her license." I'll bet she was your first car too." seeing her stunned look I asked,"What do you know about Parallel Universes?" I was talking with a woman named Calista. She was trying to explain themto me." Calista's. No ifs. No buts. Mine. Okay?”Jill was smiling as she said these last words. But her message was clear and heartfelt. And for me, it felt wonderful to be so clearly claimed by Jill. If ever I’d had any doubts about losing her, seeing the way she looked at me and hearing the way she branded me with her words, swept away any of these doubts.Not long after that, Jill and I were making passionate love. After enjoying Gemma’s body, it felt wonderful to be back together with Jill. Gemma had been. “Hello to you too, Todd. You gonna let me in?”“Oh, yeah, sorry,” he said and ushered her in eagerly.She noticed the beer cans, pizza boxes and empty Chinese containers strewn about the floor just as the smell hit her. ‘Wow, he must have been drinking for days,’ she thought and touched her fingers to her nose.“So. Um, how long have your parents been gone?” she walked into the kitchen and wished she hadn’t. The trash was piled in a crude rendition of The Leaning Tower of Pisa and looked as if.