“No, you first.”I wasn’t sure what was even going to come out of my mouth. I’d only formed the first few words of a sentence, hoping that the ...est would come on the fly. Her interruption was merciful.“I was going to say that you seem to be different these last few weeks.”“How’s that?” I asked carefully.“I don’t know, more relaxed.”I shrugged. “I guess. School’s almost over.”“Yeah, that’s cool. Just some finals in a few weeks, and then we’re done.”“Yeah.”She fidgeted for a moment as she looked. "I needed that, Mom."The little mini-Cooper zipped in and out of traffic. One of the lastvestiges of her male life was her aggression behind the wheel. The Minizipped along dodging traffic snarls and came to a halt in the driveway aTommy's classmate Anthony. Ann skipped up to the front door and rangthe bell, Natalie Dinardi, Anthony's Mom answered."Hello, Ann come on in. The boys are just finishing up some lunch." I want to thank you for taking him this morning." I perfectly understand.. ’ ‘Really?’ Something struck her as cute, it was like a gangly five year old had replaced the thirty-something pot-bellied man who stood before her now. She almost wanted to hug him. ‘Really,’ she assured him. ‘Two eggs, two strips of bacon, and two pieces of toast.’ Michael repeated, as he reached into his clunky old refrigerator. He turned around to see her gazing down at the table, frowning as if she was looking into the eyes of a dying squirrel. ‘Are… are you all right?’ ‘Does it fucking. You’re even prettier in person than your pictures.” I thanked him for the compliment and he asked me to wait for him while he parked and he would walk me in. I did and we walked in together. He was my height and had dark black hair that looked a little like Antonio Banderas. He was extremely well-dressed in a tailored suit, and escorted me in like I was his date, which I was. Once we were seated, he told me that if anyone recognized him and came over to say hello, that he was going to.