She could not stand, and to make her sit on her raw ass would be unnecessarily cruel. On her knees, Lila drank the fluids she was offered; the water a...d sugar that would, if she was unfortunate enough, keep her alive until the evening. She wished she was able to refuse them, to accelerate the end, but her thirst would not be denied and, despite her better judgment, she drank deeply.After about an hour, Manu and Aisha helped her to her feet. Still unable to stand on her own, much less walk to. “Is everything OK? Can I get you anything?” The waiter asked when I still hadn’t ordered. “Umm… can I just have a glass of water… just water… they forgot to fill our water glasses,” I stammered. As the waiter turned away, Jason quickly switched off the vibe. I didn’t realize that I had been clenching the table for the few moments while the vibe was going and my knuckles had turned white. “How was that, Baby?” Jason asked smugly. “Oh God, so good. It felt so fucking good. I’m getting wet. None of them asked about my job, which wasfine under the circumstances. I was the good wife.We got to the hotel and I was momentarily calmed. I felt the warmth onmy face and could smell the ocean. I always loved the smell of theocean. We always went to the Jersey Shore when I was younger. Thesmell of the ocean reminded me of being a kid, of running in the ocean,of frozen custard and skee-ball. Of a time when my worst problem wasthat Laura had more tickets to redeem for useless but utterly. OOo“You’re smiling at something funny,” James teased, raising one of his eyebrows as if to turn it into a question.“A stray thought,” I admitted, giggling at the image that had sprung into my mind. James spreading a checker cloth blanket upon a meadow, looking dashing in his military uniform while I stood by and watched, prim and properly dressed, a bonnet upon my head and a grape basket filled with sandwiches, turnovers and warm lemonade at my feet. Instead, I reclined naked while he trampled.