That was David’s life, his decisions, and his consequences that he faced for them, just as Dan did for choosing a bachelor’s lifestyle. It was a t...ade-off that Dan happily accepted, chiefly to be totally in charge of his own life and not have to account to anyone for his actions or whereabouts. He was mostly a loner who invited lovers of both sexes into his bed, but that was the extent of it.“What the fuck do you want?” Dan didn’t waste time with undeserved courtesies.“That’s kinda rude of you. I keep looking behind us to see if someone is following us. I don't say anything to Shelly; I want her to talk about what ever is bothering her freely. We eat lunch in silence. "I don't want to go back to Teddy ever." Shelly says with the sounds of fear in her voice. "Okay, I don't advise it either." "He was not nice to me." Just as she says that the phone starts to ring. Shelly gets up and answers it. I can see fear in her eyes. She doesn't say a word but hangs up the phone. "It was Teddy, he. .." It was his turn to look at the bed. "Was." He wasn't even sure what he wanted it to be.Her stare was cold as he looked at him and, in her eyes, he saw a laugh. "You surely didn't think it was anything more than a good time," she replied. "I'm married to Alexander Cross! If seducing me into your bed wasn't foolish, expecting me to what? Run off and be with you? That's plain idiocy!"She stood tall, righteous, and looked downright bitchy as she spoke. There was no doubt she was Alexander's. There were minor political groupings but there was a strong identity with the nation. It was called the United States of America and the people were called Americans. The two oceans were the Pacific on the west and the Atlantic on the east. I know that, on the map, they are not far apart but to travel by horse from one ocean to another would take over one hundred days of hard, steady riding. We had some technologies that allowed for faster movement including automobiles that would travel more.