The noise was barely tolerable as he made his way down the stairs, what the heck did he get himself into? As he stepped off the last step he surveyed ...he room, which was your typical finished basement, light colored wood paneling covered the walls, with a low suspended ceiling.“Henry! Thank God you’re here. Man I was going freakin crazy here with all these girls” Alex screamed over the crowd.Henry went over to him and said, “I had a nightmare that started out just like this. At least I’m. She had been unable to warn me at the time and Great Aunt Margaret had only just left now. Since Deidre was closest to the phone, possibly in preparation to throw it at me, or strangling me with the cord, she took the call.At least the make-up sex was great in those days. The somewhat contrite Deidre, in a moment of post-coital bliss, reminded me that we had promised each other fidelity to the forsaking of all others. I agreed, laughingly, that I had no doubt she was serious on that point. But. "I never played with the other kids. I never talked with the other girls. And suddenly you appear out of nowhere." I shook my head and stared and my socks. "I've never kissed a boy. And I've only been asked out once." "By whom?" He asked politely. "Charlie Daniel." I said. I realized this was the longest conversation I'd ever had with anybody. "Right before the Spring Fling. I said yes and later on, I found him making out with another girl. So I'm not dating." He nodded. "I don't know why. What was it she said when she turned you away? ‘I can’t – I wish I could.’ Well, I’d guess that with Pilar she found she could at last. Bully for Pilar.” She raised her glass in salute. “And then there was Claire,” Gemma went on. “A really serious, committed live-in relationship with a woman, followed by a dreadful loss. And what happened in the years between Pilar and Claire? Not to mention whatever’s happened since Claire… “What I’m getting at, darling, is that not only has there been some.