And then…’ She broke down. I went to her quickly, crushing her against me as she sobbed. I wept along with her. Shelly enveloped Moira from the ot...er side, tears sliding down her face. She knew the story. She hadn’t been surprised at Moira’s shock, but I wondered if she’d ever heard the whole thing — not that a hundred repetitions would have protected someone from tears. I stroked her hair and let her sob. I had no idea what to say. Shelly mumbled that Julian didn’t hurt anymore, and that he. ’ She gasped internally. Giving her real name to a stranger, what was she thinking? ‘Cinderella?’ ‘As in the fairy tale,’ Cin confirmed. ‘Alright, Cindy, you were interested in the position?’ ‘Uh, right. I am … recently unemployed,’ she finished awkwardly. ‘Actually, I just got fired. Hence my lack of a résumé,’ Cin tried to joke. ‘Hmmm, I can work around that. Where did you work?’ ‘At Jane’s SportsFashion.’ ‘You worked for Kenneth?’ Miss Anisidora’s face twisted in distaste. ‘Guess I won’t be. He tried to smile but like a rubber band it pulled back quickly into a straight line. ‘Kiowa, I don’t know what I am feeling about you? There is something different about you?’ ‘Gaelen-‘ ‘That is the most generous thing someone has ever said to me.’ He was dead serious. ‘What did Professor Windsor say about you being a defect?’ He sighed and his hand tempted to drift again to my arm but I moved away afraid he would sense something defective about me and this time realize that I was human. ‘He. The glass was cool by comparison, prompting her to roll her head slowly from side to side. In a few short seconds; even that smooth cool surface, succumbed to the damp body heat, radiating from her nakedness.Casting a sideways glance toward the clock, she watched absently as minutes slipped away. The growing pool of moisture along her collarbone broke free. Her chest rose as she yielded to a satisfying yawn, that resulted more from boredom, than lack of sleep. The tiny stream of moisture worked.