During that time the only contact I had with the place that provided my paycheck was when the writer from the Holiday Ball stopped by.Even when I woul... take the kids on vacation I would usually call in a couple of times during the week to make sure things were OK. But not this week. I really hadn't even thought about it.The publisher was in Aspen so I figured the inmates could run the asylum for a while. After all, what's the worst thing that could happen?My staff was professional. They knew. That's not the way Mary took it, though. She ran over to him and he had a sniveling female clinging onto him before he knew it. He just wrapped his arms around her and stroked the back of her head the way he used to with me when I came crying to him.She stayed there a bit, then backed off, took a deep sniff and said, "I'm OK now." You sure?" Yeah. You don't know how much you helped me today. I don't know how I can ever thank you." Mary, you're family. Don't think anything of it. There's nothing. Misleading someone in an honor bound agreement is contemptible, but I wasn’t misleading her about the oath, just about what enforced it.With careful and precise wording, I explained exactly what being my ‘loyal pet’ meant.Being loyal meant that she would never betray or deceive me, and her own hopes, dreams, and desires, were subservient to mine. It wouldn’t force her to become a mindlessly obedient puppet, so she could disobey as much as she wanted, but being able to disobey has less to do. Almost like using her, taking her for granted, being more interested in her as a body, a thing than as a person. I learned that true love involves the whole person. And that physical love became better, the more you knew of that person.I got home and pulled in the driveway next to Mom's new Lexus. John was an influence on her whether she wanted to admit it or not. She never would have treated herself to a car like that if he hadn't bought his hundred thousand dollar BMW. She'd worked her ass.