Riki wasn’t sure what to say beyond that, and quietly got up to get out, wishing desperately that she had put on her swimsuit bottoms again. She had...’t felt more exposed even in front of Alex, and she couldn’t bring herself to retrieve them either, “I’ve been in the hot tub too long,” Riki said lamely, feeling like that it was obvious that the statement was exactly what it was, a lame excuse for the shameful way she had acted. “Can we talk about this later?” Riki asked Gwen, “Right now I just. Gloria put her hand over Katie’s and said, ‘It was the abruptness of it. Suddenly, he just wasn’t there anymore. Had he died of some sort of illness it would have been hard, but I would have had a chance to say goodbye, to tell him that I loved him one more time.’ Gloria began to cry. Katie scooted her chair closer to the grieving woman and put her arm around her shoulder. After a few moments Anthony did the same from the opposite side. Gloria’s entire body convulsed with her sorrow. Neither. "I take great pride in my work and you hurt my feelings with your crap."I thought about what he said and began to feel really bad about mybehavior. I put my head down and with my hands behind my back, coveringmy bottom, swayed from right to left."I'm really very sorry for the way I behaved and for the things I saidto you." I have never had a customer treat me they way you did." I'm really sorry for being so naughty to you. Please sit down in thischair and let me make it up to you," I said.He. Several of the regulars took the time to come by and introduce themselves, and tried to make me feel at home. A couple of them said something about how the club "really needed a good left-handed reliever." This put me under a little self-induced extra pressure, but it made me feel good, all the same.Always nice to be needed. And whatever the Oriole brass might think, I really was a good left-handed reliever.I got an inning in, during one of the intrasquad games before our regular spring.