"Shewanted to get married, and I said there was no way Iever would. And, I put my foot down--no way, Itold her. So, I left, and she was gone when I go...back."Angela frowned as if she could not comprehendwhat I was saying. Still, she stayed quiet while Ifinished. "Anyway," I said, "the only thing she leftme was a little goodbye note. She cursed me, if youcan believe it. And I don't mean she swore at me. Imean, she actually put a curse on me. Like she wasa witch and I was the prince that she. As we sat in the living room drinking our coffees, Matt and Mary let Betty know that the food was superb. I was explaining the future trading venture to Mary, when she asked, “Doug, when you hop from one planet to another are you limited by weight or volume?”“No, why do you ask?”“Well, it seems to me that you can transport a lot more merchandise in a small storage container than you can put in a backpack, and it would be a lot easier on you than carrying a heavy backpack.”“Yes, I was thinking. Then we walked, hand in hand, out to the public mezzanine once again.We were waiting for an elevator to go down to the parking levels when I heard a familiar voice. "Tim! Tim!" It was Kathy running up to us.Lia and I glanced at each other, then at Kathy."What do you want?" I asked."Tim, can we talk?" she said. Then to Lia she added, "Alone!"Although I didn't think Lia and I had much of a future after next Friday's date was over, I said, "Anything you can say to me, you can say to Lia."Kathy. She was not cut, but there was a great bruise swelling on the right side of her head, above her ear. The edge of the night table was curved, but very solid wood. I went to get some ice from the fridge.Moments later I had her lying across my lap, holding the ice in a tea towel against her bruise. It took her a while to come around. I just held her there, stroking her hair and shifting the icepack back and forth so her skin wouldn't freeze. I waited, thinking what a headache she would have.