"Pull up a chair," Erica Jackson offered by the dining table."You can sit in my lap," Monique St. Claire told me with a giggle.I smiled. It was good t... be home.So Dawn, Gwen, and I sat at the dining table and spread out our books. Julie Carpenter decided she was done with her studying and left the dining table to give us a third seat, moving over to the couch to join some of the others watching TV. And the room quieted down as the piano opening to Phantom Planet's "California" sounded off, and. Occasionally we would have a single night or two where Susan and I would be the only ones around the house, but this was a full two weeks. Typically, we leave each other to our own business, but I’ll usually invite her out to grab dinner one night at least when this occurs, and this time was no exception as we agreed to head out a couple evenings during this two-week stint of everyone being away.Second day of having the house to ourselves Susan and I made dinner at home; had a bottle of wine. They aren’thuge by any means, but on her tiny frame they seemedthat way. Then a few days later as we were leavingwork, she gave me a tight hug goodbye, pressing hertits into my chest. I was keenly aware of her lingeringembrace, but I awkwardly broke it before my dickstarted to swell. The following weekends were spent at each others place,alternately going to their place for a swim and dinnerand ours for dinner and cards.Last Saturday while in the water alone with Brittnay,she had swum. But no amount of work, none of her incremental successes could disguise or compensate for the fact that she had become lonely. She had friends, certainly—mostly women making the same hard climb as Marcia, a warm circle of support and commiseration. But it was another kind of warmth that was missing from her life, and eventually she admitted to herself what it was. Even then, however, she would not allow herself to deviate from her goals. Not…now! She told herself over and over, trying to.