Okay," she replied, unable to find a reasonable excuse not to comply with the boy's wishes.She sat on the end of the couch and actually found herself ...acking away a bit as he sat, not on the other end, but close to her, his eyes, self assured as they found hers. She looked away, unable to meet his intense gaze."You're a senior this year," he observed."Uh, yes. Graduation isn't too far away," she smiled, but it was weak and again she could not hold his eyes.He knew the pheromone was beginning to. Ruth was relieved. They chatted away, as old do, while Mark set the table and avoided eye contact with Ruth. She wasn’t sure if Stella noticed or even knew why.Lunch was served and the chatter continued. “Go and sit in the lounge and I will bring the wine” Stella said. Ruth and Mark sat silently waiting for Stella to return. “Come on you two. You look so serious” said Stella and laughed. She handed drinks to Mark and Ruth and settled on the couch. “Here’s to old friends” said Stella. Ruth and. I still had so very much to learn about this farming business. Half a dozen books were strewn and open around me, and my fruit punch had long gone stale. I would have to remedy that situation on my next break, but was not worried about it at the moment. I stretched briefly, but then returned to my research, taking notes on my laptop computer as I went. It did not matter to me that our familys net worth, thanks in large part to my prior business ventures when I was younger, was somewhere in the. Looking at each other across the table, the members knew that when Pat was silenced in thought, something heavy was about to go down.With intensity, he studies each members face in turn and begins to speak."The loss from the lab fire was immense. We lost nearly two million on product alone. Add on top of that the equipment, now a fine ash in a pile of rubble, and that is too much to ignore. Do any of you have any idea who or why we were hit?"Searching the room for an answer, all members were.