"I wanted to laugh. Only a week ago he told me he loved me and for me to call him John, but not Dad. Was he becoming senile? Somehow, I knew he was se...ious."Are you saying to call you Dad when were alone and John in public?" No, I've reconsidered and changed my mind. I'm thirty-six years older than you. I think Dad would be more appropriate than John."He looked at me, waiting for me to say something. "Okay... Dad," I said and watched him smile.I stopped at a convenience store and ran inside to. .or girl, for that matter. I was teased in school all of the time. Look at "Anime!" they would taunt. "Hey, Anime, does your mommy still dress you?"Pretty fucking much. She wouldn't let me pick out my own clothes. They had to be "mother-approved."I was going to bed. Late at night was when the fun began. I always locked my door for privacy, even though they forbade it. I would look at myself in the full length mirror and slide my skirt off and then my panties and remove my shirt and bra. Staring. The kind of place where married men would slip their wedding rings into their pocket, buy you drinks you didn't ask for, then call you a bitch if your knicker-elastic didn't instantly dissolve in proximity to a sugary cocktail. The kind of place where divorced women would dress in outfits fifteen years too young for them and two sizes too small, and writhe their hips with ever more salacious, slutty desperation the closer it got to 3am, as the booze and their fear of spending the night alone. .. they really didn’t. Sarah’s family had money, and her grandparents had left her a small sum when they’d passed, plus Marin had always made a good living and they’d saved and invested well. And Marin’s parents had died last year, leaving a small inheritance that was just enough to pay off their mortgage and credit cards. Instead, Sarah worked so she could keep her mind sharp and stay interesting to her husband who traveled all over the country meeting all kinds of people. And she always made.