I thoughtmaybe I am spoiling her, but since she's still here after today shedeserves a bit of spoiling.We were about half way done with our meal and w... were so involved in ourconversation that neither of us heard the door open. I was in the middleof saying something when I noticed Jen's eyes grow wide then I heard hermom speak."Oh my God! Girls that smells wonderful, so Jennifer who is your newfriend?" Mrs. Cook said.I spun around in panic and faced her, it took a few seconds for it toregister. "Bet she looks good in that." One of them roared."Bet she looks better without it." Another retorted."With all her frillies on the line do you think she's got anything on under that dress?" Mike's voice sounded."Come on Mrs.," one of them shouted "show us." Look," I said angrily as I turned to face them "why don't you just let me get on in peace." Ooh, shirty isn't she." one of them laughed.Virtually tearing the last items off the line I took my washing and retreated indoors, I was angry, but. Tess sprang into action. Not willing to use up valuable time to pack carefully, Tess filled a large black trash bag with a few essentials and a selection of clothing and shoes. Dressing in a navy blue track suit and matching tennis shoes, she pulled her long dark hair back into a pony tail and secured it with an elastic band. Yanking her bottom dresser drawer open, Tess felt underneath for the envelope and ripped it free. The thin wad of bills inside felt reassuring. Then, grabbing her purse. I pulled out my desk chair and slid it over to her and plopped back on my bed.“Tell me about your week, Sandra. It’s seems like forever since we’ve talked.”“What? Are you reading that out of my text to you?”“Huh?”“I texted you three times today. Didn’t you get them?”“Oh damn. I got so many text messages today I didn’t get through them all. I was kind of busy.” I pulled out my cell phone and saw that instead of the one message I saw before I took off, there were two more from Sandra that came in.