’ ‘So it is. Today you will volunteer at a place for troubled youth downtown. The taxi will be here in,’ he looked at the clock on the stove, �...twenty-minutes.’ ‘Yes sir.’ ‘You’ll find clothes in my dresser. Second drawer.’ She said, ‘Yes sir,’ put the fork down on the empty plate and went to get dressed. New jeans and a blue shirt. No panties or bra. She came back out holding the collar. ‘Will I need this?’ She twirled it around her finger by one of the D rings. ‘Not for the kids but that. She needed a human touch more than drugs or treatments. She didn’t try to pull her hand away from him.“The drugs are keeping the pain away,” Pat said not looking at him. She knew that wasn’t what he meant.Shaking his head, Dan said, “That’s not the pain that I’m talking about.”“I know,” Pat said swallowing heavily.Her entire self image had taken a major battering over the past week. She knew that she’d be able to drive anyone else away with harsh words, but not Dan. He’d stand there looking. We'll be back in touch soon. There'll be a next date, and that's your mark of success.'" With that, they disappeared into the night. I didn't hear from them for two weeks, and then one day I got a call on my cell from Beth. I wondered how she'd gotten my cell number; I don't share it with many. Beth said, 'Claire, Joe, and I will be back in town on Saturday and he'd like to see you again – and so would I. We've been in Europe for two weeks buying a couple of companies. Wear the pale blue outfit. "I asked if you were going to get up to work out with me in the morning. But it looks like you are already up and ready to work out with me, so let's just go to bed." She unfolded to stand up and that just shifted the view around some more. Unbelievable. Just incredible. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's get in a position where you can take a much closer look. I give you permission for everything that's legal in the agreement. May I have the same?" I love you, Whitney. Yes. Of course you can. But.