A puffy, messy, incredibly juicy bun set proudly atop her bubble head, and a more-than-curious expression etched clearly across her warm, glimmering, ...miling face......Along with something tucked carefully behind her back.Their dark eyes, like static, met readily from opposite ends of the room.“I mean- ..Danielle!”His voice immediately begun to thaw in turn, attempting to reflect the warm sun-like beams with which her mere presence bathed his, otherwise, obfuscated heart.“Hey, I didn't expect. I told her exactly how to dress and I'd see if she was as cooperative and willing to comply with my coercive directions as she had been a year earlier. I had told Mandy that I wanted her to dress like a classy slut. I wasn't even sure what that would mean to me if I'd had to tell her exactly how to dress, so I decided to put the burden on her. Mandy took it in stride and acted like she relished the challenge to please me in what she picked out to wear. I thought to myself, "Yeah, Mandy loves. She placed a chamomile fragrant incense stick into an old candle holder. After she lit the incense releasing it’s calming aroma throughout her bedroom, she sat on the edge of the bed wiping the tears off her face with a tissue. Meanwhile, Joella continued talking about Carmen, tabloid articles, and soap operas until six o’ clock in the morning never realizing that Carmen heard the horrible comments that were made about her. * * * Sunday brunch at the IHOP restaurant became a tradition for the. .. ?"She looked up at me, eyes moist, and my heart went out for her. I had been her age once; sure, I knew what she was going through. "Yes, Daddy?" How do you think I knew you were here?"For a moment, her beautiful face creased into a puzzled frown. "You said you saw me... on TV." Silence. Realization. Enlightenment. "That means... you were watching the Parade, weren't you?"I took my hands off her for just a brief second, to signal surrender, and then they were back on her shoulders. "Guilty.