”That night Shaun dreamed, thinking of Sharon.Ted had his meeting with the rest of the patrol after breakfast and Shaun was not surprised at the res...lt. All volunteered to a man.Ted left for Cairo the following day with instructions that Shaun was in charge until he returned.It was late evening on the next day that he returned with a bulging briefcase.They found out the results of his meeting the following morning. His desk had been cleared and a large scale map lay on it.“My meeting with. If you dare drop the whisk I will flay you alive. You may begin.”I struggled to keep from laughing. With a stainless steel whisk sticking out of his butt, Alex crawled very slowly and very carefully around the kitchen. After one lap I ordered Vera to pull the whisk out and insert the spatula. When the handle was all the way in, she twisted it so that the blade was facing upwards. As Alex set off for another circuit of the kitchen it looked as if he was ready to flip pancakes with his butt.The. ‘‘That’s it, I am already pregnant, you’ll get your baby, one child, your heir. You’re never bringing that THING near me again,’’ his wife told him.He chopped off the end of the cigar, and held the gold lighter underneath for several seconds, allowing it to warm up the end of the cigar, ‘‘for fuck’s sakes, woman, and then... ? What happens after the baby is born?’’She replied, ‘‘well, I go back to my lesbian lovers, and my dominatrix ways; and you, you can have your pick of women, you’ve been. You couldn’t blame him for taking his time though; you two were just gonna meet up for drinks, but the alcohol had other plans, and now you feel like you need to pay your friend for being your therapist.“I don’t know what you should do. I genuinely don’t know what to say, other than that I’m glad you told me. I know people who have gone under because they didn’t have anyone to talk to.” Mike took a solemn pause. “The only thing I can think to tell you is to take a break. I know it’s never that.