Yren was just ... Yren. He was a commoner so maybe he didn’t even know how to act around her. He had never displayed an agenda or acted anything mor... than what he was. It was one of the reasons she liked him. ... and she DID like him, of course. It didn’t go further than that, though. It couldn’t go farther than that. She liked him, they were friends, and she’d named him her protector. She felt safe around him.She glanced around for him again but simply couldn’t find him. It was starting to. Dry, it’s real. “Hello,” I whisper. No answer, no echo. Louder. Still nothing. Loudest. Still quiet as death. I can’t feel my body; can’t move a finger or toe. “Where can I be?” I ask out loud, as I slip back into sleep. I’m awake, suddenly. An echo returns the click of a latch. Eyes open. Only darkness. I close them, yet it’s no darker. I feel warm. My legs and arms seem bare, but I can feel them, and move them. Damn! Just barely. I’m tied up. His handiwork, again. I am on something soft,. She started phoning him every night,sometimes more than once. But she would never want to speak with Mark'sdad or me. I found that a bit strange. But eventually he got tired ofall the hounding. He told me he felt like she was suffocating him. Andby then you had come on the scene."My memory kicked in. "I met her at his grad banquet. Were they stilldating then?"She smiled. "Not as far as Mark was concerned, but Pamela seemed tothink so. She didn't want to let go. I don't know why he asked her,. They had a nice little boardwalk up on the beach and a lot of people like to just sit up there and eat lunch overlooking the beach and ocean. Tony pulled into the parking lot and turned off the car. He told Jan to reach in her purse and get out her bathing suit. She put it on in very short time and then heard her car door opening. Tony grabbed her hand and his beach bag and guided Jan down to the beach.Jan had been behind the sun glasses for about an half hour already. Now Tony was guiding her.