" "Man, the thing to do when you fall off is just get right back on," I was told; "get your social life started again." Nobody seemed to remember that... pre-Susan, my "social life" had been pretty much a zero; that kind of goes with the status of certified nerd. Besides, when you've had your dream and lost it, it's tough to get all excited over the idea of settling for an empty substitute.But my friends didn't want to listen to that, which they downplayed as "just whining." I'm not sure why. I dressed and raced to my Mistress's house.Again, I stripped in the foyer and left my folded clothes in a pile. She must have heard the door close or just expected me to be on time, "I'm in the bedroom, pet! Approach me properly."I nearly ran down the hall, stopped just before her bedroom and dropped to my hands and knees. I crawled into her bedroom, "Over here pet." I crawled to the sound of her voice. She stood beside the bed."Greet me pet."I kissed the tops of her bare feet, "More."I. Her welcoming smile didn't seem friendly or pleasantto me. More like the grin on a cat's face as he was about to pounce onsome poor bird.She handed me a More and lit it saying, "Good boy, now put on a freshcoat of lipstick and go over to fix John some breakfast. After he haseaten and you've cleaned up, get back over here. While you are there,you will freshen your lipstick at least four times and you had better besmoking the entire time. Before you leave him, give him a kiss on bothcheeks. . I was looking forward to that movie.”I shook my head at her. The movie would be showing every night for weeks. Dan’s last game wasn’t going to be repeated. The game would’ve given Tara a perfect excuse not to go to that party. Sometimes Tara was her own worst enemy but I wasn’t going to tell her that.We sat in silence and held hands. I hoped I was giving her some comfort.Tara obviously half wanted to go to this party – it wasn’t just Laura making her do it. If Tara was so desperate not to go,.