Pulling the door open, she let Sheila into the apartment, and glanced down the landing where an elderly neighbour shouted "keep the noise down will yo...!" She poked her tongue out and then slammed the door. "Come and sit down love", she looked at Sheila's distraught face, the tears streaming down her face. "What on earth is wrong? Look, sit down and I'll make you a cuppa."Sheila made her way to the worn sofa and sank into it, her shudders beginning to ease as the warmth and comfort of her. Miki left and I only waited a couple of minutes before I headed to the party house.Inside, I quickly felt overwhelmed by all the people and the loud music. I weaved my way through the front room to the kitchen area and finally into the backyard. The music was slightly quieter out here which I liked. This also happened to be where a cooler of beer was. I smelled the distinct aroma as soon as I came outside.I took a seat in a patio chair and took everything in. This was so exciting. I was here at. "They sat on the windowsill and talked. Doc told her that he wasn't a medical doctor, just an associate professor who had lost his home and his wife when raiders attacked the small private college where he had taught economics. He told her how he still pined away for his wife, who was captured by bandits. He knew that she was still alive and didn't want to have any other woman.When she asked about why he and the other guys were in a little nowhere town in the Shenandoah Valley, miles from his. He had always thought her a delightfully attractive woman, and her voice was sweet and sultry at the same time. He’d often considered asking her out for coffee, but his self-doubts had always ended the idea well in advance of actually carrying it out. His nagging wraiths had always talked him out of it. Another rejection, they assured him. And he’d always heeded them. When you give up on ever finding someone to love, you never again see the sense of even trying. Without hope, there is no.