I obviously had woken her up with the pounding. “Osmond. Hi,” she said in her monotone voice. Her eyes were much smaller than usual. ...She looked better when she had glasses on. “Where’s Susie?” I asked. “Yeah, nice to see you too,” she drawled, closing her eyes. She turned around, cigarette held between her two slender fingers like a flower petal, and walked back towards her room, a trail of smoke following her like she was the yellow-brick road. As she. “I’m moving in with him after Christmas. I want to live with him for a year before we get married. But I think it’ll work out ok. He’s a pretty nice guy most of the time.”“You’re lucky to live out here. It’s really a great place.”“Yeah. I just hope the university will have my job open again next semester.”We sipped wine, and listened to the fire jump behind the screen for another couple of minutes, with out saying anything to each other. We had evolved into a relationship where we didn’t have. "He had that way with people. He was calm and collected, and regardlessof who the person was, he went out of his way to make sure he could dosomething for them, like he did with Jordan. Ended up doing exactlywhat he promised her. You know, that night is what made me realize thatMichael was the one for the mission."---Panel Interview for A-Team Command, June 1985---"Colonel Owen, thank you for joining us," Thompson said as he greetedme and led into the room where several others were. And that fat cleric who patches us up makes more each month than he can carry.I step through the curtains that separate the stairs from the main waiting room. Several men are waiting in the chairs; some too uncomfortable to look at anyone, some conversing freely with each other. Among them, I recognize a couple of regular customers.One man stands in the center of the room, and seems to demand attention. His attire is simple: a set of dark green leggings, and a brown long-sleeved shirt over his.