"Sounds like a wonderful severancepackage." He laughed at her reply. Chapter 14Joe's home was near the top Mt. Solidad a...d it had a fantastic view ofthe Pacific Ocean. It was another benefit of being rich. They walked into his house together. "Do you want something to drink?" he asked as he took her wrap. "That would be nice; what do you suggest?" "I have a bottle of champagne in the fridge," he replied. "That sounds wonderful," she replied as she walked into the. . I can’t believe Randi Raver is holding him hostage for money. You’d think the $25 million she made in record sales last year would be enough to tide her over.”“That’s something else Phil explained to me,” Hailey continued. “On the books, Randi earned $25 million. That’s what she paid taxes on. That means she paid about half of it to the government. Then her agent took six percent – of the entire $25 million. This was her last album for her old label and they took about 25 percent. So she paid. It was still there, mocking reality.Reality, in his experience, did not like being mocked.Liuz was unsure how long they stayed there, sheltered from the wind and sun. He had no desire to descend, to do work requiring thought. Harveen's body and the mysterious tower dominated his senses. She seemed to be asleep now. Liuz could feel himself heading towards the same state.A wagon came up the road. Sitting up, slowly, so as not to disturb Harveen, he recognized it as theirs, now filled with crates. " The tears welled up in her eyes andshe began to weep openly. Neil put his arm round her as she sobbed intoher clenched fists."It's alright," he kept saying, "it's alright." It's my mum..." she began, "she won't... she doesn't understand me.She wants me to be... she tries to control everything I do... I don'tknow..." It's ok," said Neil, "you don't have to." Clarissa cried some more andNeil came round to look her in the face. "My God," he said, "whathappened to your hands?"Clarissa giggled a.