The door closed, and Mrs. Rivera expectantly hurried back towards the kitchen table, looking from daughter to daughter in anticipation. “Well?”... “No,” Emily insisted. “We’re not discussing this. You two are not a committee, and neither of you get to sit here and judge my life. Or my friends.” Completely unfazed, her mother’s expectant smile didn’t falter, and she instead simply turned it towards Katie. “Well?” “He’s definitely okay,” Katie appraised seriously. “Maybe even, like, a. …That Thursday went by normal and routine, nothing out of the ordinary. I had just got off work, unloading merchandise from trucks all day long, and our forklift was broken, so I used a pallet jack and at the end of the day I was drenched in sweat. I put on a new shirt before I left work, but the sweat smell was still on me, but I didn’t mind. At the bus stop, I waited for the next bus, but couldn’t help that this guy at the other end of the line of benches kept glancing up at me. Me being. . I ran away..." she confessed.It was his turn to be thoughtful before answering, "Well... I can see you had quite a burden... but why run away from it?"Dottie turned away from him, her face to the wall, the tears running freely and unchecked, now. She sobbed, "Our l-lives... absolute m-mess... you'd n-never believe..." Why don't you try... ?" Wh-What do you m-mean... ?" Tell me about it... I listen good..."Little by little, detail by sordid detail, he was able to draw the story from her,. She ran towards me and threw her arms around me. I wrapped her in my arms and lifted her up off her feet. “Hello, Mandy,” I smiled. “Hello, Gil,” she smiled back, “Kiss me, please.” “At your service, Milady,” I grinned and kissed her lips. “Mmmmmmmmmm, I missed you, Gil.” “It’s been a while since we chatted, Mandy. Let’s grab a coffee and catch up.” “I’d rather stay just like this,” she grinned. We made our way to a coffee shop, ordered and sat at a table. “How have you been, Gil?”.