We moved into the house, large and warm and I suddenly realised how cool it had become outside. I sipped slowly, reluctant to drink too much more but ...o enjoying the conviviality, the warmth and the sheer pleasure. I sank into a deep cushioned sofa and leant back into its embrace. Later, much later, the party dissolved. People moved singly, in couples or in groups, leaving the room and slipping into the dark recesses of the house. I stood, looked around me and found I was entirely alone. I went. ”“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I will be much more careful now. Let’s just gather our dignity and leave as the ladies we are, shall we?” I said, collecting my dress and shoes and walking into the bedroom. Ray sat on the edge of the bed wiping whipped cream off his face and holding the champagne bottle. “I’m so sorry. I just wanted to have a nice romantic evening and I screwed it all up. Is there any way I can salvage this and make it up to you?” He looked up at me with puppy dog eyes and I swear my. Eventually, he got fairly decent. There wasn't much he could do about his hawkish nose, not until hecould afford plastic surgery, but the rest of it had yielded to patientlearning, and time. Especially the hair, dark and straight but thick,which was now long enough to make some of the metalheads jealous. His girlfriend had loved it; she brushed it every chance she got.He'd loved _that_.. His parents hadn't freaked out too much about the hair, which hefound kind of odd. But then. He still says we're a dirty magazine. " "Damn it, we never go beyond contemporary community standards, " Sput protested, hurt. "That old bastard is a bigot. " "Well, bigot or not, he won't give us an interview. " "Fascist reactionary bastard, " Sput fumed. "Someday I'll-" Then he brightened. "Listen, doll, " he said to the girl at his feet. "You're the Attorney General— now really go to it, like a fucking vacuum cleaner!" The girl's head began bobbing faster, and Sput slouched back.