Just like it used to be. I was safe then. "I know he's gone. But he won't really die until I do." Then Karen had to hold her while she cried...again. For just as long. These were her Hard Things. That day was the hardest day of my life. Sitting there and not being able to hold her. Or even pretend to hold her while she listened to me talk to her on the phone. "Hope honey, Don loves you now, just like Chris did." Don's trying to love me. Chris still does." Hope had forgotten. The bell rang and I got up, shifted my books to hide my jutting mast (and accompanying wet spot, because where would Batman be without Robin), and shuffled out the door.This repeated every day as dependably as the sun coming up. I'd gotten a little more casual about it but it was still embarrassing. I'd resigned myself with just enduring the inconvenience and hoping that this little phase would finally exhaust itself. It wasn't as if I didn't vent my sexual energy. I had a rich and varied. "You started coming in here almost weekly right after I started. With your handyman work, you were always looking for something completely different each time, and I was usually the one helping you, so I made it a point to learn the location of the products and something about each one that you were using for your work. Over the past three months, you have bought several things from just about every department, so I have learned about those things and the things around them to where I knew. I glanced over at Chrissy and said, "We'll go in, and you can wait outside my bedroom until I call you in. Put on some sexy outfit." Yes, Mistress," she said."And you might want to lay off that Mistress and Master business," I said. "I don't think that either of us is up to it. We are Claire and Jake." It doesn't seem completely respectful, but if that is what you wish, Claire, I will do it," she said."Thanks," I said, and we sat quietly until I pulled up in my driveway.We entered the house.