The infantry cheered loudly."You have fought valiantly and it has been my honor to have stood with you. The Scanians will pay dearly in blood for dari...g to set foot on Axon's fair soil."Remember this day well, my friends. Tell your children and your grandchildren of the day that you held off twenty times your number. Tell them of the two hundred Axon heroes who stopped the Scanian dogs in their tracks."Tell them about the spirit of Axon that flows in your veins and which you drew upon to help. Replacing our company with a cheaper provider would cost him irreplaceable time later on, I assured him. Time very definitely does equal money ... even with an Ivy League MBA.Dinner itself went off just fine. I kept the conversation off of business largely because it seemed to be now interfering with Junior's drinking time. He sucked down two quick scotch & waters before the appetizers arrived, and sucked down, largely by himself, a bottle of nice Italian red wine and then immediately ordered. ” I turned around and watched her run up to me. I cursed under my breath asking myself why didn’t I just keep walking without her. She finally caught up and was shortly out of breath, “Why didn’t you wait for me?” I smiled and shrugged, “I figured one of your new friends would offer you a ride home.” She laughed as we began to walk, “Please...those guys just want to get in my pants.” I looked at her as we walked to our respective houses, “What about your female friends?” Once again I. She might have been asleep, but I should have felt calmness from her. There was nothing.Chloe ... She was there, but sleeping ... Please, oh, please tell me I was wrong!I turned to Yvonne, she looked back at me and I felt that sensation of everything taking on a slow dragging ... I was speeding up. I held out my hands and she looked down. Just as she started to hold up her hand to mine, I let the keys drop and they fell ... slow...I turned and left her standing on the snowy steps. I didn't care.