He doted on Merry and although he thought that teenage boys should have a firmer hand guiding them than I preferred, he was ultimately fair.His daught...r, Merry, and I were much closer. I actually enjoyed being around her. I could even say that I loved her. I wondered why I couldn't apply that verb to my relationship with my step-father. Somehow, we never really clicked that way. As I said, he was a decent man, but I would never call him "father." There was just too much bad history with another. Ray worried and could only hope that Ms X felt the same way about him as a husband. Until Ray heard her response to his proposal he wouldn't know.Ray suggested that they have some dessert and champagne to celebrate Ms X's birthday. She was a little resistant to this but at Ray's insistence she agreed. Ms X excused herself to visit the ladies room. Ms X leaving the table was a fortuitous event. Ray forgot about his plan A and went immediately to plan B. Ray asked the waiter to bring two flutes. They saythings work out for the best, but not for me. I made so many badchoices, never realized who my real friends are, my enemies. I need totell someone, to write it down. I totally know who I am now, and it's sosurprising.Let me go back to Raoul. We were married but you already know that.Before that happened, you know, we actually got married and stuff, Raoulinsisted that I meet his sister first and get her approval. That seemedso sick but Raoul insisted and did I really have a choice. . This time, I finished fourth place. When I entered the Chess Competition of the Grand Masters, he was right there. The Grand Masters Competition involved men and women who were true masters of the game. Some young female prodigies had made headlines in the past. Wally Wolf went up against them. He won. He didn’t just win. He won by a landslide. Overnight, this mystery man became the Matinee Idol. Someone who was universally worshiped and adored. I was seeing his face everywhere. He was on Jay.