Tonight things would not be routine. I sensed a new, more determinedattitude the moment Chris walked in the door from work. Without our usualcasual co...versation about the happenings of the day, she ordered me to gointo the bedroom and take off my clothes. As I left to comply, she pouredherself a glass of wine and lit her first cigarette of the day. Inhalingdeeply, she mentally reviewed her plan and became resolutely determined tocarry it out.When she walked in the bedroom and saw me standing. I was a Communications Technician Interpretive. Top Secret clearance." They sent linguists a lot of places overseas. Right?"She smiles, runs her fingers through her short curls, and begins reading her Sue Grafton mystery. Her fingers now continue crocheting. Now, while you are sitting in the living room, listening to some concertos by Albinoni, you suddenly drift into another realm. Another world. You scratch Victor Hugo's head as he lies snuggled up beside you. You gaze into the flames. ." She must have had a bad day because she cut me off. "No!" she declared, "No, alright? I'm not trying to hurt you, but just...no." "..." I was speechless. "Look," she said, "I'm not trying to hurt you." "..but..I" "NO!" she slapped my jacket. There was a loud snap as the object in my pocket broke in two. I felt the device that Jason had given me. It had broken in two. I pulled out both parts. "Oh, I'm sorry," Jamie said. "I didn't mean to break your pen." "It's not a pen," I said, "It's. “Wait, Holy Father has eight boxes of these?”“Oh, no, he has twenty-eight. Well, twenty-seven, now.”He tore open the first box and spilled out a number of individually wrapped chocolate-y bars on the floor. He offered one to her, but she shook her head. He pulled out a bar and took a huge bite. “Uuungh… Why can’t we have these?” he said, sputtering flakes of peanut-buttery wafer. “Seriously, so good.”“Well, if you think that’s bad…” She went to a shelf at the far end of the closet and pulled.