I was in serious need of some smokes and Mrs. B wanted a pack to. I slipped into the store and grabbed the cigarettes and tossed them on the counter. ... “Your mom know you’re smoking?” the clerk asked and glared at me just as the old bag did every time I bought cigarettes there. “Yep, she says that as long as I’m able to pay for my own she doesn’t care. She would rather I smoke in front of her than hide somewhere and burn something down.” The clerk grumbled something about what kids were. A part of me wished I was getting all this attention for my writing abilities, but I'll take fame however I can get it.Beckett arrived just after us, unsurprisingly escorted by both Sienna and Skye, ravishing in matching outfits. The secret that both were in the movie had been leaked two months ago, but no one yet knew exactly how. Sienna flashed a winning smile at me before turning to the nearest camera, profiling herself for maximum sex appeal.I just smiled back and let myself immerse in the. For with the dream foregone, foregone, The deed forborne forever, The worm Regret will canker on, And time will turn him never.So were it well to love, my love, And cheat of any laughterThe fate beneath us, and above, The dark before and after.The myrtle and the rose, the rose, The sunshine and the swallow, The dream that comes, the wish that goesThe memories that follow!"O Gather Me the Rose, the Rose" from "A Book of Verses" By William Ernest Henley © 1888, London: Alfred NuttWeak sunlight. Claire thought that a considerable waste of money, given the amount of time he spent at hers, but decided in the end not to push the point. After all, it was his money that he was wasting. Better, she told herself, to concentrate on what they had together rather than what they didn’t.With their living arrangements settled, things went along their merry way for the next few years, with hardly a ripple of discontent from either of them. Therefore, it was something of a shock when, a week before.