"Laura put down the phone and looked at herself in the mirror. Her face seemed gaunt and hollow and stricken, but a new light was now glowing in her e...es, and she realized that she was still alive. A few minutes later, there was a knock at her door.She let Jonelle in. "I thought you were supposed to be at work," she said."I thought you were supposed to be at that show downstairs." I don't have to be there until nine," Laura said, looking at her watch. It was almost eight thirty.Laura closed the. "I knew she was right, but I thought I could have done better. When I tried to talk about it, the moment I said, "But", Julia cut me off. Other than more praises of me, one of her points was, "She threatened us, which was very stupid of her. But it's not all bad news. Her mother now thinks Chloe gets a sexual thrill out of flashing her tits at guys. With her mother's attitude to breasts, she's bound to think that needs urgent action. Hopefully she'll rush Chloe into badly needed counseling.. It was one of those establishments from the 70's where there aren't hallways or indoor pools. Thoughts of a shower stabbing from the movie Psycho were my first thoughts as we pulled in and parked. I recognized some of the many cars in the lot but didn't think much about it. Without a word, we both got out and I followed Rachel to door number 5. The large picture window had the curtains drawn and I began wondering how much trouble I was about to be in. As we walked in, I was greeted by the other. Rita had instructed that the extra chairs be removed and that the butler offer pastries. I tried what he called a Chorley cake, a round shortcake pastry stuffed with fruit. Mine had raisins.Rita and Caryn sat on each side of me. Across from me was Joyce Heart, with Phil Nobel and Mark Underwood on either side. I introduced Caryn to everyone and we jumped right in.“I see you decided to leave Ari at home. That was a good call,” Mark said.“I’ll bring Ari in when it’s time to negotiate money,” I.