I ask Cindy to sit on my lap, she quickly and silently obeys and plops herself on my lap, wraps her arms around me and kisses my cheek. Ladies, the se...sion is over. You may take a group selfie. And please don’t forget to send copies to Amanda and I.” Amanda sighs out loud, “Oh Gil. That was incredibly sweet of you.” I laugh and reply, “It was also sweet that I agreed to a blueberry bubble bath and to whatever they did to my hair. Oh, by the way, we are formally invited to join them for spring. It was just that feeling of her hand on me, the stirrings that that simple touch evoked. I didn’t want sex. I wanted her. It had always been this way, since we met, I think. There was just something about seeing her, feeling her next to me. It never failed to arouse my libidinous tendencies. And so, in my towel, I made my way towards the dining room, half resigned to see her busy dusting and polishing things that, to my eyes, needed no attention. I needn’t have worried. As I stepped around the. Heels and stockings are compulsory. Also, I want your make up to be heavy, as if on a night out. Red lipstick and dark eye shadow are what I want. Your hair must be in a pony tail.” He hung up. Velvet noticed how her heart was pounding and she gasped for breath. This was the first time since her marriage she had ever given a sexual invitation to a man other than her husband. Her marriage that was now nothing more than a signature on a document and a scrapbook of photographs. Her husband was. Those would be, I vowed, my future tickets back to New York. I started a diary, but two months later I had little in Memphis that I considered worth remembering, so I threw it away.Within three days of arriving at home I typed fifteen- and twentypage letters to Martha and mailed both within a week. I spent a week searching for a thank-you card for her and for Ronnie, and on the inside of Martha's card I wrote "Love You. Steven."She answered both letters with one. As usual, she handwrote only.