I cracked my eyes open, just enough to see my beloved wife's face inches from mine, a mischievous glint in her eye."How's my big... strong... man... ...oing?" she asked, using her best imitation of a breathy Marilyn Monroe wishing JFK a happy birthday.I looked up at her suspiciously, blinking to bring her into focus."Hmgfhumf." Really? That good, eh?" Hmph." I know what you mean, sweetheart. I hadn't realized tomorrow was paper recycling day either." Oh, son of a..."Before I could complete the. ----------"Hey girls," Natalie said as she, her fianc?e and her sister entered theposh London flat where Amelie was sat, trying to console the distraughtPaige. "Sorry we're a bit later than expected, Zoe's ballerinas were abit rowdy tonight..." They are not 'rowdy', they are elegant, graceful young women," Zoeretorted. "Even the group of eight I told you about. But they are notwho is important tonight." ...Huh?" Paige asked, lifting her head to look at her three recently-arrived friends. "What-. “Hold on.” She touched Jake’s arm. “Okay, I’ve installed a control. It’s set to trigger if you’re loyalty changes. I’m going to reinstall the neurological loyalty control. Are you ready?”Jake swallowed. “Yes,” he said, and then immediately began to bark.“Oh, I’m good,” Jan said. “Let me back out the control and the trigger.”Jake felt himself return to normal.“It’s still not perfect,” Carol said. “The other side could read you and find the intuitive control. If he removed it first, he could then. " I noticed that she had transposed my "you" to her "we". But she was right. If we were going to be together, it was only fair that I carry my half the load, however uncomfortable it might be."OK." I agreed. "No use putting it off. Why don't you call your parents now? Set something up for tonight, and we'll get it over with."She gave me a sweet little look, but I could see in her eyes that she'd just checked off another box on her mental list. How is it that most women can't read a road map,.