In the room, he slipped off his suede lace ups, all the time never releasing her from his grip. She instinctively reached for his belt to unthread and...loosen it for what was to about to come. The room overlooked Cannery Row, and if you looked high enough out of the sliding glass door, which acted as the only window as well, you could just make out the line of ocean off in the distance. She’d felt oh-so-special when he’d asked her to come with him, because she knew he had other options. He. “To my friend, Marcos. May God richly bless you. J. Wesley Allen”“Wesley!” she cried.“Are you Mrs. Allen?” a woman’s voice spoke from behind her. A lovely Greek woman wiped her hands on a towel as she approached. “Yes. You look exactly like the photo he carried.”“You know my husband?” Rebecca asked.“The three of them, Wesley, Doctor Heinrich and Doctor Jacobsen stayed with us before Marcos drove them to his father’s home in Thessaly,” the woman said. “Excuse my rudeness. I am Helen. Jen was silent for long moments, perhaps trying to understand what he was talking about, or simply composing herself. ‘N-no. I d-did, do want to have children with you, b-but it’s so soon, and, and, b-but-‘ ‘But…?’ he prompted, gently. ‘I w-want you to still want me!’ The sex, it always seemed to come back to that with Jen. Jahn knew it was her preferred way of expressing her feelings for him, making her feel wanted and showing that she wanted in him in return. But she thought he wouldn’t want. When two of the leaders spoke to one another across me from where they were parked on either side, discussing me as they might a particularly interesting roadkill, their voices were like slabs of rough granite scraping together, deep, rumbling, gritty, powerful yet understated.I glanced back and forth between them as they spoke, enough to keep my personhood despite their objectifying manner, yet not enough to be challanging, as I tried to stay centered and relaxed while still showing I.