." She went off to try to pump her mother -- but Vera was being cooperative for once. I introduced Britney as a colleague who was visiting the family,...and that handled things for a moment -- until Maureen heard noises upstairs. It took her a good fifteen minutes to find an excuse to go upstairs, but when she did, she returned dumbfounded. "Who are those women upstairs?" I'm doing a favor for someone," I told her. "They're staying the night. Don't worry, we've made various sleeping arrangements.. The blood roared in his ears, drowning out all other sounds until that was all he could hear. He didn't hear the traffic, present, even if it was sparse, at this time at night, half past ten. A soft whisper in the background. The constant swishing of tires on wet asphalt. When he had no strength left in his legs or lungs, he realized to his astonishment that it was raining. A slow, steady drizzle, but still heavy enough to seep through his sweater and shirt. It didn't feel cold against his. Apparently, she was thinking along the same lines b/c she casually asked him when his next trip to Atlanta was going to be. Knowing that the clients he was going to be meeting with later that morning were going to be pretty stubborn, it seemed very likely he would have to come by again very soon he told her. She beamed. The day went by in a blur. In the meeting he found himself making all sorts of references to setting things up ‘next week.’ The rest of the week seemed to take forever. For the. "Do you mind if I shower?" asked Marta."Of course not," Joe replied. "What's mine is yours." Sounds ... nice," Marta smiled, grabbing her backpack. "Don't wait for me to eat."Roger already chewed a bite."So!" grumbled Joe."I had to escape," Roger explained."You had one more year!" What would I do with a philosophy degree?" It gets you in the door. It increases your salary." I had enough. I should have gone to school somewhere else. Anywhere else." You could have done better in high school, got.