‘Should we… go somewhere else?’ she said. I shook my head. ‘No. Remember, that’s not how we do things here. In fact, Sam–that’s who it s...unds like, would actually be offended if he found out I did such a thing because then he’d have to start worrying about who might need the place to themselves when he wants to go in, and our whole system would be screwed. Also—remember, if there is something going on, don’t look away or act embarrassed—if you do, that’ll just make them embarrassed too and mess. "Am I allowed to kiss my girlfriend?"She nodded again and he did so gently and lovingly. He did not prolong it but drew back and looked into her eyes."Thank you, my Katrina."She turned towards him and put her arm tentatively round him. "Another?" she whispered.Andrew repeated the kiss but prolonged it. The tip of her tongue touched his lips for a moment and then was gone again. He did the same to her and then they both pulled slowly back. Her arms tightened round him and she laid her cheek. As far as Jason was concerned Bill had been the best of a bunch of very good ones, although his memory carried with it the notation that Bill could be a real hardcase if he was crossed. Retired now from General, Bill was thickening up a little and getting gray, but, like his tall, solid, equally graying, tomboyish wife Arlene, was obviously a doting grandparent to Sergei and Milla. The kids spent a lot of time on their laps as the larger group gathered around the lawn chairs near the pool.A. Rumpled clothing, the kind that one bought in the attempt to feign wealth, in cut that nearly draped beautifully, save for the cheap cloth and subtle imperfection, clung in silent witness to the sleepless night. The nearly exquisite exterior that covered up the slowly decaying innards, cloyingly sweet perfume that nearly covered the reek of moldering life and hope, she was rotting from the inside out.She might have been different, perhaps the softly rounded mother with a slightly frazzled air.