At first I was appalled when told that I would be working bothChristmas Eve and Christmas, but a few words with Ike, the guy who wasthe lowest senior ...erson in the department before I arrived, assured methat it wasn't so bad. He explained that last Christmas Eve he had beenalone in the plant except for a handful of contractors, and completelyalone all day on Christmas so he had hurried through his few duties andspent the day surfing the web and sleeping. Not bad work for double-time and a half.. ”But, she’d walked away. The stores patiently waiting her arrival, their checkbook in her Rodeo Drive handbag.“Buddy-boy, what’s the matter?”Mister Ed queried his owner as Wilbur Post entered their shared space of stable and office.Ed had heard the sirens and seen the ambulance arrive, then watched yet another extra long vehicle depart hours later in total silence. Something or other “Mortuary” printed on the side.Wilbur had been crying.“Addison, he is dead.”Ed knew death only in the abstract. “Mike never knew when I’d stop by. I liked to keep it irregular, so it would be a surprise to him. Sometimes he was horny and would call and ask me to stop by. I never thought that was quite as much fun, but if I was free, I’d go over and we’d fuck. He couldn’t come to my place since I was living in a dorm with several other girls. “We went out quite a bit and tried to find fun places to have sex. I don’t know why, but when I was with Mike, I did things that I never would have imagined earlier.. Her uncle would have been very interested in that - horrified ... but interested - had he known. He didn't, of course. That would come later.And, as so often happens when changes are relatively slow, the person being changed didn't notice it. Her brother did, though."Hey Rissa," said Matt one day. Like his sister he was thin and pale. He didn't look sickly, exactly, but someone might assume he was recovering from some terrible illness."Hmm?" Clarissa was reading a book by Stephen Hawking called.