But I can't help but wonder if you don't, deep-down, feel even a little remorse for what you've done to me, half a thimble-full of pity, or is there n...thing behind your mask. Is that my fatal mistake—that what I took for a mask of cold, hard, cruelty is not a mask at all?That behind it all is emptiness, like the cosmos behind the mask of ?god.?{Who is it that is talking?} Am I a ghost revisiting the past or am I dreaming of a future yet to be fulfilled?In other words, is this a scene I'm. ”“Alaina?”“YES! Hey Josey. I was sitting here by the phone, hoping you would call.”“I’ve been sitting by the phone looking at your number - then I dialed it. I was afraid your Mom or Dad would answer.”“I live in a small apartment behind Mom and Dad’s house. I have my own phone and I’m so glad you called. I’ve been nervous as heck, since meeting you and I was wondering if you really would call.”“I’ve been meaning to come over and meet all of you, since I bought the dealership. Yesterday was the. Is it Michael? Home early! Had he made his decision and chosen me? When the man emerged from the mist at the bottom of the stairs, I could see the object in his hand. It was my right slipper. I must have lost it on the sidewalk. I still couldn’t make out his face since the cloud of mist seemed heavier around his head. And I couldn’t quite tell from his torso whether it was, in fact, Michael. The suit looked exactly like one Michael wore but the physique outlined beneath the suit seemed a bit. "You wouldn't get some low-level asshole running the show. You would wind up with somebody big — someone who does business like my father did. Do you want that? Does that serve anyone's purpose?"Susan Kay watched me during my monolog."I don't want that," she told me. "As for serving anyone's purpose, there are people who justify their existence by going after men like your father. There are those ideologues who believe fervently that if you are out of the picture, the scene ends. We both know.