" I said with false cheerfulness as I forced him back into his chair."How are you doing this? You're just a fucking TK!" That is your arrogance talkin..., and I've had about enough of your arrogance. Right now I have some questions for you."Because this sort of interrogation is old hat to me ... no sense fighting it ... resistance is futile ... I am James Bond, Batman and the by-God-motherfucking-Shadow all rolled up into one!I tried for a surreptitious deep breath to calm my calm and. It was. We took three towels out and put them on the chairs on the balcony. The chairs can have salt on them from spray and we did not want to get our formals full of salt. I asked Jean what she wanted to do when Kristina arrived. Jean thought for a moment. Come over to me and kissed me. She backed away and told me this is what I want to do to Kristina when she walks through the door. We'll have a glass of champagne ready for Kristina and us. Then both of us will give her a kiss. But Jean said. Ana had even told her parents once that she didn’t like spending time with Carla. “She always makes me uncomfortable.” They scoffed. How could shy, delicate, quiet Carla make anyone uncomfortable? So here they are again, sitting on separate sofas in their grandparents’ sunroom, everyone else having wandered off to other spaces and other conversations. At sixteen, they were in the middle of the great divide between the kids and the adults. “So …” said Ana. “Yeah.” Replied Carla, who then. ‘I never knew that red and purple went together’ and that it did. The walls were a rich dark purple and the tables and chairs were a dark blood red. As I was admiring my surroundings he was ordering our food. ‘Are you a vegetarian?’ I looked at him and said no. With that he order a filet mignon medium rare, he looked at me for approval and I nodded, with mashed potatoes aligoté and minted zucchini salad and a Merlot. I was eager to try the wine so when it got to the table I promptly took a sip.