Did you really send her to take your place today?????”Michelle sighed. “Yes. And tonight.”That brought Todd up short.“What??? Are you serio...s????? Michelle, are you crazy?!?!?”Michelle sighed again. “Todd, the reason that Nicole’s father and I divorced was that he cheated on me. Repeatedly. He just lost his attraction for me, and started looking for sexual fulfillment with other women. I don’t want that to happen with you.”“So you send your daughter to take your place?? Michelle, this. . but hell, maybe Mom did want me to be a teenager again, someone she could control, order around. Someone who listened to her, respected her.Not that I didn’t respect her, of course. But ... well, maybe Mom wanted to go back to a time when I was a kid, instead of a young professional, on the verge of moving out.On the verge of leaving her.Don’t get me wrong - I’d thought about how much it would hurt Mom, her only child moving away, leaving her alone in a house where she’d had so many good. A lot of people wish they had fond memories of their childhood to look back upon."She thought I was referring to being an orphan, but I cut her off from going there, and we talked about her current life, instead. "My current love life is non-existent. I've been a three-time loser in long-term relationships, but avoided the altar each time, so at least I'm not divorced like my entire peer group."My brother died when I was an undergrad. He liked cocaine too much, and mixed it with other things,. Once her eyes adjusted she could see she was not in a familiar place. She wracked her brain to remember what happened, where she was but all she could recall was walking down the street after a dinner with friends.Scarlett was laying on a mattress, a few dirty blankets strewn across it. She was completely naked and something was wrapped around one of her ankles, a metal brace with a heavy chain attached to it. She fumbled around in the darkness only to realize her hands were bound together with.