” I shuddered at the thought and Clyde leaned forward and kissed me. Considering the situation, his kiss wasn’t even that bad. His lips were soft ...nd tender and he showed more gentleness that I thought him capable of. His hand cupped the back of my head when he pulled away he rested his forehead against mine and took a few deep breaths.“You can’t keep doing such stupid things. Be a good girl and obey me,” he whispered.“I’ll try to do better,” I promised. And I meant it, if I wanted to survive I. I told my father that I needed to get away, to get some time for myself. He asked me some questions, but once I told him that my trading would continue during the time I was away from the office, he just asked me to keep him informed about things. I could tell he was worried about me, they all were. My father seemed to realize he shouldn't try to take any action to attempt to dissuade me from going ahead with my intended plans. He knew I wasn't happy, and while he was concerned, he didn't feel. "Please let me give you some money." Please, no" I responded. "It's only a cone, plus it would be my pleasure to help" as I flashed the biggest smile that I could.I broke the eye contact as I turned to get back in line. As I looked over, "Mom" was standing and cleaning her daughter's little face, yet stealing an occasional glance my way.I finally placed my order, including a small cone, scribbled a note on a napkin and then approached the table once again."Here you are" I said, as I smiled and. "I have to say, Emily, what you've done here is miraculous!" Oh, I didn't have to do all that much, really." What? He's... she's... almost totally transformed!" Yes, but I didn't do it alone. Far from it. The end result isattractive, I'll grant you, but I can't take the credit for that. Remindme to introduce you to Dr. Cho: she performed the various surgeries, andPetronella herself made most of the artisitc choices. I really didn'thave to do much at all, beyond training her to move gracefully.