They started to ascend the stairs when Jill almost tripped and almost fell as her foot slid on the stair tread.“What the hell ... these stairs...”...she gasped, staring at their bizarre treads.They were worn- very worn. They were worn to the point where you could notice it, the great marble slabs grooved. Nothing could ever do as good a job of showing just how many people had climbed the great stairs of Chicago’s largest train station. The largest train station in the biggest railroad hub in the. I really do appreciate it.”“Uh, sure,” Phil said. “I’ve wanted to apologize to you. Things got too far out of hand and I know that now. I could have accomplished the same thing without destroying your reputation.”“Just stop,” Courtney said, holding up a hand.Phil fell silent.“Yeah, it sucked to have my whole life out there for everyone,” she said. “Like you, I’ve had time to reflect on how things played out. You released nothing that was untrue. I made things up and passed them off as fact. It. ”“Jay,” responded Heather.“WHAT DID YOU CALL ME, SLAVE!”“Yes, Master, right away.”I looked at the other girls as Heather ran in to get the strap, “WELL!”All of them except Melly replied in unison, “YES MASTER!”“You think you're special Melly?”“NO MASTER!” Melly responded.Heather returns with the strap. “All of you except Melly, go wait for me in the first bedroom,” I exclaimed.The girls trudge off, leaving me with Melly. I hug Melly tight for a moment, then we sit on the couch.“Melly sweetie,. I loved it, especially the holding hands part. Jacqui seemed to enjoy it too. Finally, through Fort Stevens State Park and down to the beach where the old Peter Iredale shipwreck skeleton still juts up out of the sand. When we parked the car, I wondered if Jacqui was going to wear the bikini down on the beach, so I asked her, “The bikini?” She looked at all the people down on the beach and said, “I think the shorts are OK.” I was a little disappointed, but not surprised. When we got down on the.