‘I’m not a porcelain doll, I won’t crack so easily. Is there more?’ **** She had listened quietly to all he had to say. When he paused, she g...t and walked to the fridge and pulled another two beers out for them. She brought them back. She seemed to accept his story so far. He drank a bit more of his beer. ‘You’ve done well,’ he said. ‘Better than I thought you would. It’s not easy when they’re all gunning for you. I know.’ He sucked in some more air and continued on. ‘My team reported to a man. She had been badgering her father about getting some help and so eventually he gave in and put an advertisement in the newspaper, hoping for a young woman to apply but none did. Of the men, three were too good looking, two were completely without experience and another turned out to have a long police record. This only left Jeremy. He had a slight limp from a riding accident, a slightly bent nose resulting from his being on the receiving end of a polo mallet and on the day of the interview he. “Well, it would be nice if they could all be like Tom.”“Tom? Who’s Tom?” asked the housewife turned waitress.“That’s him over there. Just walked in.”Gwen noticed a nicely groomed, rather good looking, middle aged man who had just entered the club.“Tom’s a really nice guy. Doesn’t really belong in a place like this. His wife died about a year ago. He comes in once a month or so. Always by himself. Has a few drinks and then picks out one of the girls.”“You mean for ... after hours. Hurry up or it is going to be cold," Jenny said after plastering both of us with a kiss.I was amazed that the rich coffee aroma had not awakened me, since that was what I used as a wakeup call every morning. A few minutes later, still in shorts and tee shirts, we were all at the table quietly eating. There were last minute things to do for tonight's party. We were calling it a pre- Christmas package opening. At 5, family and friends were coming over under the cover of opening presents.