Heading out to the backyard, he checks out my garden and water feature while I grill up the fish. We eat in the backyard as the evening sky dims and t...e air cools. Lighting a fire in my clay chiminea, we roast marshmallows and make dark chocolate s’mores. It’s a messy process that leaves our hands sticky with chocolate and marshmallow which we eagerly suck from each other’s fingers. The conversation has been light and easy, which is a relief after the start to our evening. Dishes are forgotten. .is.. not as it usually is. There is something different. There! In the third tier , two boxes from center. I see a face…a veiled face…but I know the eyes…I have seen them before, I have seen their sparkle before. I continue to peer up, unable to take mine from hers. Everything else stops for me, melting away, sound fading , till there is only silence , you and I. Your eyes then grow wide…wide…..wide with alarm? Wide with panic? Why? Why panic? Dear Heavens Above! I Am In The Coliseum!! The. Just as I was heading toward my neglected girlfriend's table, the manager, Jack, whom we all called Jackass, intercepted me."Would you mind helping out the kitchen staff and take out the trash?" he asked, as if it was actually a question and not an order. Just once, I would have loved to see the look on his face if I had said, "Yes, actually, I do mind," in response to one of his passive aggressive question/orders.Of course, as usual, I just gritted my teeth and gave a sort of grunt that. ‘I’m not upset. Not with you. Or them, really. Confused by their methods, and I definitely disagree with them, but I understand now.’ ‘Toni told you?’ I nodded. And you don’t have to worry anymore.’ I took a step back, put my fists on my hips, looked up and to the left, and said, ‘I’ll protect you.’ She laughed. God, her laughter sounded like bells from heaven. ‘I know. As corny as that was, I know it’s the truth. You make me feel safe.’ ‘That’s how you should feel.’ She took a step forward and.