He gave me a look of disdain. ‘I am sorry my Lord, I didn’t realise that you were in here else I should not have allowed Mr. Smith and his helper ...o come in.’ I blanched. This was the Earl! ‘Shelton, it is of no matter. I am sure that Mr. Smith and his daughter will take tea with me. Serve it in the drawing room.’ The footman retired giving me yet another black look as he did so. ‘Do forgive me, My Lord, for addressing you incorrectly.’ I was distraught for not realising who he was. ‘Well,. The AI dropped the force fields to conserve power, and since the strain had almost overloaded them, they would need to be checked and repaired by nanites as soon as possible. As if to cruelly toy with us, Fate dealt the last card it had been holding in reserve, just in case any of us still managed to harbor the faintest hint of hope.Everything suddenly went dark. It did not seem possible, but the terrified cacophony got even louder, only to be drowned out a few seconds later by a massive. I said no, then she said what am I doing, I told nothing then she said if nothing then why awake till so late night it was about 1 am. So I asked what was she doing and so she said she was also unable to sleep then I told her frankly that I was thinking of you so was not able to sleep. She laughed and told me the same then she said can I come to her room, I said ok, but she said do not knock as she is keeping the door open and I have to just come in the room. I did as was told. What a beauty,. . We need to talk.”That was the last thing I needed. “Yeah? We do? Who’s this, Cheryl?”“This, uh, this is Mark. Honey, Mark and I work together and, well, we’ve gotten close over the past month and ... Steve, could you just sit down for a minute? Mark listens to me and we talk, I mean really talk. He’s a great conversationalist and, well, it sort of ... grew. We went to lunch a few times and then dinner and ... Maybe a bit more.”“How much more, Cheryl? Did you fuck him?”Mr. Supportive decided.