Before Elaine got home from work, I sat down and took stock of things. We lived here for nearly 25 years, raised both children, went through all of th... highs as well as the lows and did it while laying a solid foundation based on love and respect. It was hard to believe that it was all gone now. It's funny, though. Instead of hating Elaine for what she had done I feel empathy for her actions. I said it before, that we don't always pick who we fall in love with. Elaine and I were in love long. It wasn’t really that long ago but it seemed like an eternity and I regretted my ungentlemanly neglect in returning her calls because the last thing I wanted at that time was pity.I waved Gloria on inside the command center set up just outside the monkey cages and went over to my forgotten name hot number and gave her a hug without saying a word. She was a perceptive broad and she greeted me with not only my correct name but also threw hers in as well knowing what jerks most men are when it. . a voice from the past.I turned around slowly reluctant to face the person behind the voice.He held his arms out to me like some long lost loved one..."Well my love aren't you going to give me a big hug" he said a sickly smile on his face. It wasn't that it was an ugly face ... just the opposite, JohnnieGillespie was good looking ... too good looking if the truth were known ... his good looks and charm are what drew me to him those six years ago"Go to hell Johnnie ... I never want to see you. There was no such thing as coincidence. I was going to have to have a closer look at the smoke alarm in my lab.I went back into the classroom and dressed. I hurried over to the Library to wait for Charlie. When she arrived after her last class, she slid a list of tasks across the table to me. She had obviously not paid much attention to her lessons.The first thing on her list was not what I expected. She had obviously given this a lot of thought in a very short time. Either that, or she had.