Alex frowned at the recognition and reference."I'm sorry," responded Beverly. "That was a mean spirited and uncalled for remark. I apologize. Can't I ...ix you a drink? I think we both could use one about now." No problem and no offense taken, and, yes, bourbon, please," said Alex. "In answer to your question, I do have a different... ah... feeling about soft drinks right now. And, if you don't mind, I'll stand for a moment."Ian found Ingrid at the bar in Room 3. She had been slugging down. He stood up and opened up his arms, inviting me to hug him. I walked up and put my arms around his waist as he put his strong arms around me. He gave me the tightest hug, and then he slowly started to rub my back. I slowly closed my eyes and just enjoyed his warmth.I just realized you’ve probably never seen Jamal. I believe he was moved to our department after you were moved to the other building.Jamal is a little taller than I am. He’s black, has light eyes, and a beautiful smile. He is really. "You can put your coat and muffler there."There were already three couples standing in the living room talking. Everyone, Devlin noted, was conservatively dressed, the men in nice slacks and good shirts, the women mostly in cocktail dresses. It made her feel better about what she'd chosen to wear, good slacks and her white turtleneck sweater. She'd decided to wear that because it was an outfit nobody in the dorm would question."Everybody," Cindy said, "this is Devlin. She's Doug's partner.". At about eight someone changed the tempo of the music, I had been waiting almost four hours for this and was eager to get to my aunt Zelda before someone else asked her to dance. She saw me approaching her and smiled to me, her husband leant over and said something and I saw her nod as I got up to her."Aunt Zelda," I said in a rush, "would you dance with me." I would love to Dave," she smiled seemingly sadly, "but I have to go, we've a three hour drive ahead of us. Maybe next time."Crestfallen.