”“Thank you, Sensei.”“Then come back next week, bring a check, and I’ll show you some more dirty tricks. And in a few months we’ll build s...me real skill around those dirty tricks. Then you can be the bully, eh!?”We both laughed. I was feeling better. For about a second.The door slammed open and closed behind me. It was Miss Valderrama. She was wearing big sunglasses that barely concealed a sprawling black eye. She seemed nervous and reluctant, but she was being led by the hand, dragged forward. " Her foot stomped and her arms crossed as she spoke with the same petulant tone from this morning. Her eyes held no venom or anger only challenge and willfulness, as I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms gently around her.I spoke softly to her, "If you want to act like a little brat don't think I won't put you in the buggy and get a pacifier to use until we leave the store." I could feel her cheeks heat up in embarrassment as she buried her face in my neck. "Now are you going to. "Just a minute, Gwen. Pull back off the road," insisted Steve as Gwen came to a stop. Steve climbed out of the SUV and opened the back door. He plucked the cigarette from Jordan's mouth and tossed it down and then ground it with his heel. Then he reached into her pocketbook, yanked a pack of cigarettes out and crushed them in his hand before walking to a nearby trash can and tossing the pack into it. Then he climbed pack into the front passenger seat and nodded for Gwen to drive."You asshole!". He smiles and my heart beats a little faster as I feel my smile spread across my face. Eight very good months with Josh. He had invited me to his friend’s wedding as his date. With the last bit of champagne that was in my glass now sliding down my throat, I stand up and start walking towards him.“Hey beautiful, are you enjoying yourself?” The stubble of a growing beard against his brown skin, the crinkle by his eyes as he smiles, and the way his lips move as he calls me beautiful, makes me.