"For Argument's Sake."
By: Isis @}->--
isis@moonkingdom.com
Rating: G
Disclaimers: Don't sue and don't copy!
AN. Oh! Serena and Neil? Darien and… don't you want
to know!
Chapter 9
*@}->--*
*That man works entirely too hard!* Serena sat at her desk just
watching Darien sitting across the room from her. His back faced
her as he poured over the classification problem he was working
on. A huge textbook looking thing laid open to his left side.
Probably for the formulas and calculations he needed she figured.
A pad of paper sat to his right and a pencil was still held in hand.
His computer screen was flashing up different numbers that he was
punching in. None of which she understood in the least.
"Are you just going to stare at me like that all day?" he asked
without turning around. She hadn't been aware that he'd noticed
her.
"Sorry," she mumbled. "I'm waiting. I already finished that folder
you gave me," she said simply. He was the one that actually had to
do the work here. She just typed in the correlation thing-a-
maggies. Which was something she couldn't do if he hadn't found
them yet.
"Sorry. This one doesn't seem to like me much," he muttered
while scribbling down something on the paper pad.
"No hurry on my part," she said slouching in her chair. She
decided that the window's view would probably be more
appreciative of her attention than he was. Although between the
two, Darien was much more interesting.
It was a beautiful day outside and she was stuck in here doing, well
nothing for the moment. But she should be outside on a day like
this. She heard the taps of computer keys and involuntarily looked
over to see what he was doing. He entered in whatever numbers he
came up with off of the pad in front of him and set the computer to
calculate the distance to the star he was working with.
A few quiet moments and the computer blinked back a number in
red at the bottom of the screen. A number, she noted, that must
have been wrong. Darien threw his pencil down and let out a
frustrated moan.
She smiled a bit to herself as he leaned back in his chair staring at
the computer screen like he could melt it into oblivion with the
right expression. Feeling sorry for him she stood up and quietly
walked over to him. She slid her arms around his neck like she
always did and leaned her chin on his shoulder. He didn't even
move.
She looked at the little red number at the bottom. It looked like a
perfectly good number to her; but then again, she had no idea what
she was looking for. Grudgingly he turned away from the screen
to the paper he had been scribbling on. "Sorry, Serena, this
miserable little star really doesn't like me."
"Hey, like I said, no hurry on my part," she mumbled. "Just don't
kill yourself trying to find the stupid thing." She knew how he got
when he was frustrated, granted it didn't happen that often. He
wouldn't stop until he had it figured out. *He can be such a
perfectionist sometimes,* she mussed.
"I may kill something but it won't be me," he muttered to the
computer screen.
She laughed lightly trying to lighten his mood. It didn't help to be
mad at the computer. She knew from experience. "Do you want
some coffee or something?" she asked.
He finally seemed to realize what she was trying to do and sighed.
He leaned back and closed his eyes for a minute. "Yeah, maybe
that would help," he murmured.
"I'll get you some. Relax for a minute. It'll come to you, I'm
sure," she whispered in his ear and landed the tiniest peck of a kiss
on his jaw line. He nodded slightly and she slipped away and out
of the room.
*Poor Darien, it hasn't been a good day.*
"Serena! Uh, hi."
She was shaken out of her thoughts by a voice that she was getting
to know rather well. She looked up to find a tall brown hared man
standing just down the hall in front of her. Green eyes looked back
at her a little shyly.
"Oh, hi Neil!" she said smiling. She quickly walked up to him.
"What does the good doctor have you up to today?" she asked
noting that he had just left the Bentons' office.
"Just odds and ends."
"I see." This was fast becoming a losing conversation. *What do I
say? Let's see, what's happening around here? Think, think!*
"Oh, uh, are you going to be in on that little observatory party I
keep hearing about?"
"Oh, yeah! Dr. Benton asked if I'd come out too. I think he
decided on this Friday night. I'm real…" Serena didn't hear
anymore than that. *Wait! You can't go Friday! We had plans,
you can't go on our night!!*
"Serena?"
"Huh?" she muttered before realizing that she'd spaced out in front
of her own love interest! "Oh! Sorry, I was just thinking. So
you're excited about going out?" she asked trying to remember
what he'd just said.
"Definitely. Astronomy is something I've always loved."
She smiled at the comment. Darien was here for physics; Neil was
here for the stars. Somehow, she didn't understand either of them.
"So, um, I was k-kind of wondering something," he said finding
the hallway's wall very interesting.
Serena held her breath. She'd seen that slightly uncomfortable
'please don't think I'm a freak' look before. The slight stutter and
the nervous hand to the back of the head were dead give-aways.
*No way, no way, no way, noway, noway, nway, NWAY!! He's
going to ask me out!!*
"I was kind of wondering if you wanted to maybe go out and do
something Saturday? That is if you're not busy or anything I
mean. If you are, well, then maybe some other time—"
"I'd love to!" she cried before he could say anything else. She
beamed a smile at him which he returned gratefully.
"So then, um, maybe say dinner and a movie?" he asked.
"Sounds like fun! Should I meet you somewhere or do you want
to pick me up?"
"I'll pick you up. If you don't mind me knowing where you live
that is," he added more confident with the conversation.
"I don't mind," she said nearly drooling over his smile.
"OK, may I have an address then?" he asked.
"Sure! Do you have a pen?" She glanced to the clipboard and pile
of folders he was holding.
"Oh sure!" he said trying to maneuver the pile without dropping
them all over the floor. "Um, OK, one sec," he muttered still
trying to reach the end of the stack. She laughed as he pulled a
blank sheet of paper off of the clipboard and tried to hand her the
pen which was still locked into a hand full of papers. Without
much ceremony she slipped the pen out of his hand for him and
took the paper he offered. She used the wall beside her to write
down her address and apartment number.
"OK, there you are. She said handing him the paper and tucking
the pen back into his hand for him.
He laughed in response to her helpfulness. "OK, then I guess I'll
see you at like what? Six?"
"OK, sounds great," she said feeling very anxious for the weekend
already.
"OK"
"OK."
"OK. I'll see you then," he said backing down the hall the way
he'd come.
"Yeah," she said backing the other way.
"OK," he waved slightly with the pile of folders still in hand. She
smiled again and waved back before commanding herself to turn
around and walk back to her office.
She caught sight of him doing the same and she walked quickly
down the hall and slid into the office before leaning against the
door for support and sighing loudly.
"It took you an awful long time to get coffee," a voice popped into
her head.
"What?" she asked turning to see Darien typing quickly.
He turned around to look at her oddly.
She gasped. "Coffee! Oh," she said looking back out into the
hallway. "Oh, gee."
"Serena?"
"Sorry, I kind of got caught up in something," she said with a huge
grin painted on her face.
"Oh?" he asked raising an eyebrow.
She giggled uncontrollably and walked over to hop up on top of his
desk. "You are totally not going to believe who just asked me
out!!"
His jaw dropped in over exaggerated shock. "No way! Someone
asked YOU out!"
She smacked him in the arm for it but she was way too happy to do
anything else. "Isn't it just the best! I can't believe it! He just
walked up to me in the hall and we talked, and…" She trailed off
as she thought of something.
"And what?"
She turned back to him perfectly serious. "Why didn't you tell me
that Friday was the night Dr. Benton picked for that observation
thing?"
"Did what?" he asked completely confused.
"Neil told me that he was going out with you guys Friday night."
"Oh." He leaned back in his chair thinking. "I didn't know he
made up his mind. I suppose Friday would be a good night to go.
The weather is supposed to be nice and we can sleep in the next
morning. I should probably go talk to him and figure out the
details. But yes, I knew Neil was coming with us." He looked at
her with an odd look in his eyes. "Of course you don't want to
know who else has volunteered to tag along."
"Who?"
"Take a wild guess."
She smiled tightly. "Ida."
"You got it."
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She gave him a sympathetic little pat on the
arm. "But that doesn't help my feelings any. What do you mean
going out on our night!" she berated.
"Maybe I can call in sick," he wondered out loud.
"Yeah!!"
"Somehow I don't think they'd appreciate me much though."
"So! I'd appreciate you," she pouted.
He laughed at her. "You already have one date, how many do you
want?"
"Two!" she said perfectly honest.
"Well, one week without me won't kill you. Now scat so I can
figure out this stupid star." He swatted at her and she jumped off
of his desk.
"But it's a tradition!" she whined. "One week will kill me. Just
because you don't care doesn't mean that I don't either." She
crossed her arms and walked over to the window to look out.
"I didn't say I don't care. And I'll be just as heartbroken about it
as you, but what else can we do?" he said typing away again.
"I don't know," she contemplated the issue. "What time will you
go up to the observatory? It wouldn't be until dark right? Maybe
we can still do something."
She heard the key strokes stop. "That might work."
"Good!" She hugged him backwards as he continued to punch in
numbers.
"Great. So tell me about your date to be."
She sighed and settled into her normal position with her head on
his shoulder. "We're going out to dinner and a movie Saturday
night," she said with a smile.
"Well, he's original I'll give him that," he muttered.
She brought a hand up and smacked him on the check. "It's a very
normal date. I do believe we did the same thing last week."
"Yeah, but I wasn't trying to impress you."
"I should hope not. You made me pay my own way."
"You have a job now."
"Yes, and thanks to you, I also have a date." She again gave him a
peck on the check.
"Your welcome." He punched in another number and then told the
computer to once again calculate. 5811283923.89277 showed up
in red.
"NO!"
"So what are you guys going to do out there tonight anyway?"
Serena asked from her position in his car's passenger seat.
"We're going to do stars measurements," he said simply.
"I thought that's what you did all day long?" she asked sounding
confused once again.
"No, I calculate out how far away they are by using the
information that was gather by other people on different nights.
Do you remember how I explained this before?" he asked.
"The pool table thing right?"
"Right. If you have the cue ball sitting in the middle of a pool
table and you have a ball sitting in front of the two back pockets,
you can hit either one that you choose because the cue ball will
line up with it."
"Unless you're really bad at pool like me."
He gave her a look for interrupting and continued. "The reason
you can choose either ball is because the position of the cue ball
seems to change with respect to the other two balls that are father
away from you. As you move around the table the ball in the
middle looks like it moves with you but it doesn't. Do you
understand that?"
"Right, I think it looks like it moves to line up with the other balls
but it really just sits there and I move around it."
"Right! Now, since you see that ball move with respect to the
background or the other two balls in this case, that means that that
cue ball is closer to you than the two balls that didn't seem to
move."
"Oh Kay. So what does that have to do with a star?"
"We do the same thing with the stars. Only our pool table is a lot
bigger. We use the planet's rotation as the basis or ground. That
means that the side of the pool table is like the Earth's orbit. We
see where a star sits at when we are on one side of the orbit around
the sun and once when we are on the other side of the sun. Or six
months apart. Then we measure the distance that we see it moved
in relation to the other more distant stars. That's when I come in."
"You figure our how far away it is using those measurements," she
said a little unsure.
"Exactly!"
"I think I get it. Well, I get an extremely simplified version of it
right?"
"Well, yeah. But it's a good start." He smiled at her, "Besides, it
took me a semester to figure that out."
She laughed at him easily. "Well, then I'll just feel smart and
never ask for anymore in depth explanations."
"Deal. So we have eight hours before I have to report in for duty.
What do we do?"
"I thought he gave us the afternoon off so you could go home and
sleep before going out tonight."
"He did, but he doesn't have to know," he said with a smile.
"He will if you fall asleep in the middle of whatever you're doing."
"I will anyway. Measurements aren't really my thing. But then
again, I could get into a lovely conversation with your date for
tomorrow." A mischievous smile made its way to his face as he
thought of the possibilities of that statement. That was until a
small fist smashed itself into his arm. "Yeah!"
"You go anywhere near him and I'll hurt you so badly that you
won't be out of the hospital for a year!"
He laughed at her little outburst while he pulled into the parking lot
of her building. "OK, so no horror stories I promise. Besides, I
kind of like the guy, why should I scare him off?"
"You'd find a reason and a way." She unclicked her seat belt and
got out of the car.
He followed suit a little slower. She waited for him to catch up
before entering the building. "You really do like him right?" she
asked a little nervously.
"Why shouldn't I?"
"Oh, I don't know. I just wondered what you thought of him."
"Since when have you needed my permission to date someone?"
"Never," she said turning back to him pointedly. "It's just that I
don't know him that well, and I'm not sure exactly what I'm
getting myself into. I've never gone out with a guy that I didn't
really know before."
"Sure you have," he said thinking back. "What about that one guy
Mina set you up with for that sweetheart dance? You never met
him before."
"That was different."
"How?"
"He was a friend of a friend. He came with references."
"Do you want me to give Neil an application and tell him you'll
get in touch?"
"No! No, no and no!" She spun on him in the elevator startling an
elderly lady who had followed them in. "I don't want you saying
anything to the man about me. Unless it's good and something
that I would approve of if I were standing right next to you, do you
understand me?"
"Yes ma'am." He hung his head and avoided her eyes.
"Good. Now, no embarrassing stories, no insults, no telling secrets
or quirks that I would find irritating. None of the above. And if in
doubt about any of it just keep your mouth shut and play the part of
the good little friend that wants the best for me."
"I wouldn't dream of doing anything else."
"Well, ladies and gentlemen. May I introduce our true
astrophysicists. This is John Blimber who has been with the
foundation twenty-two years now and Miss Cora Sabre, who we
have just managed to swipe away from the astronaut academy."
The young women in mention smiled a bit nervously at Dr.
Benton's joke.
"These two are the ones losing sleep for all of those lovely
numbers that the rest of you get to figure out." The two nodded in
agreement as a round of 'I'm sorry' claps were heard around the
room.
Darien stood near the back of the group trying very hard to keep as
much room between himself and Ida as possible. The
introductions were then given for the rest of the group. Neil stood
next to Dr. Benton as he labeled them all. Ida stood to his left and
Darien and Romola complimented the group by standing next to
the door. All together the seven of them didn't leave a whole lot of
room left in the small observatory's domed top.
"Well, John the group's all yours." Dr. Benton moved in order to
be next to his wife during the remainder of the night's lab.
"Thank you. The real reason we're out here is to give all of you
nine to fiver's some appreciation for what us two night owls do out
here. Now, you all come prepared with lovely degrees and
diplomas, but we come with telescopes. And in particular, this one
you see behind me, which is Cora's baby."
As if on a set cue he handed the conversation over to his younger
partner. As she stepped farther into the dimly lit room Darien
could make out her features more clearly. And was a knocked a
little off kilter by them. Long black hair shimmered down her full
height, and radiated like she had somehow captured the starlight
for herself. Her eyes flashed in the uncertain light but he couldn't
quiet connect a color to them. Her features were pale and soft.
Darien snapped back to attention when she began her speech in a
certain, but light voiced way. "The Bane Observatory was two
main sources for information gathering. One is the national radio
telescope based in Tsukuba about 60 km away from us. It is
manned by researches outside of our organization and the
information is then sent to us. But the one tool completely devoted
to our experimentation is Urania, named after the Greek muse of
celestial forces. And for your information, yes, I got to name it.
This is actually the front end of a ten-meter reflector telescope.
The base and the instrument package that supply our eyes rests two
levels below us."
There were a few surprised faces throughout the room. "The dome
above us sits on the highest obtainable peek on the island. This
gives us quite a view of the stars when it's open…" Blimber, who
had during this time wondered back towards the door beside
Darien, manipulated a control next to the entryway. The dome
swiveled and the lights fell to blackness. Above the ceiling
lowered away and the group was left staring up into the starlit
night.
Cora's voice came again from the same spot, but no echo
accompanied it this time. "This, is what you are trying to
understand every day you sit in your offices." Staring up he could
see her point. The sky loomed dark and mysterious. The stars
played in bands and swirls overhead. They were up high enough
and just out of the main stream of Tokyo to be able to see the sky
in all majesty. And he had to admit, he was impressed.
"This is the control room. The computer systems use pinpoint
calculations to place our view in exactly the right place. The CCD,
or electronic detectors known as Charge-Coupled Devices tell us
where the star in question lies. It also maps the relative brightness
and the location of the star according to other background stars.
Once in six months when the Earth swings into the opposite side of
its orbit, we take the same measurements. That's when the your
group comes in." She waved a vague hand around the room.
"Now," Mr. Blimber piped up from his post next to her. "We've
oversimplified a lot of this but you will get to see this beauty in
action before the night is over. And I don't mean my lovely
assistant here," he said with a poke of an elbow to Cora. She
blushed again, and Darien couldn't help but agree with the elder
man.
"But, now then, before we get started and our fingers dirty I would
like to offer you the one thing that truly keeps this observatory up
and operational. Caffeine!" There were a few sighs and laughs
around the room and he was no exception. He had stopped
checking his watch in order to somehow fool himself into
believing it was earlier than it was. It wasn't working.
*Maybe I should have stayed home and slept instead of going out
with Meatball Head.*
"Darien?"
The voice belonged to a younger man. Probably twenty one
knowing his grade in school but he didn't look a day over eighteen.
An inch or two shorter than him and with much lighter features
Neil stood before him now. And he was just the person he wanted
to see.
"Neil! I'm glad you came out with us. Of course this is more
along your lines right? You're more of the astronomer than the
physics type right?" he asked conversationally.
"Yeah! This is totally great. I've been up here a few times, but I
never get tired of it," he gushed.
*He already sounds like Serena.* "You'll have to excuse me if I
don't share the enthusiasm," he said with a yawn. "Although the
light show up there was really something. My balcony doesn't
really offer that good of a view."
"Yeah, I know it was," he mumbled.
Darien fazed off the conversation pointedly. The man in front of
him hadn't just wondered over to his little corner for nothing. If
anything Neil had spent a great deal of his time avoiding him since
the Serena issue had been raised. *Let's see if I can get the two of
us better aquatinted.*
"So, I hear you're taking my favorite partner out tomorrow. Any
idea what you're in for?" he asked with a knowing smile.
The other looked a bit startled by the point-blankness of the
question. He stuttered for a moment before finding the words he
wanted. "She told you about it?"
"Yeah, Serena tells me most things going on in life, and I must say
you've come up a lot." He was trying very hard to keep the evil
little smile off of his face.
"Really?!" he yelped.
"Really," he confirmed. The man stood there with a little glazed
over look in his eyes for a moment. *Man, this kid's got it bad!*
"I was wondering. Um… I really haven't a clue where to take her,
and well, I know the two of you have been… friends for a long
time. I thought maybe you could suggest a place?" Darien didn't
exactly like the way he'd said 'friends' but he didn't dwell on it.
"Sure. Let's see, Serena has a thing for the romantic setting," he
mumbled while he pretended to be deep in thought. "Well, have
you ever been to the Rose Garden? We went with a few other
friends a couple months ago and she really seemed to like it. It's
on Forty-fifth Street, right on the corner. It's definitely a high
class sort of place, but the menu isn't going to break you." He
nearly laughed at the sold out expression on his face. "But I have
to warn you, she'll try and pay her own way," he added just for the
heck of it.
"Sounds totally great! I really do want to make a good impression
on her." He once again fell into the dreamy little lost look and
Darien was really finding out why Andrew was always so dead set
on matchmaking everyone he was around. This was fun!
But he didn't get the chance to say anything farther. A group of
two was slowly making their way around the conversations going
on in the coffee lounge they had been ushered into. Mr. Blimber
and Cora made rounds, and they were headed in their direction.
He took the moment before they arrived to make a quick
observation of the lovely angel on Blimber's arm. She was tall and
had the build of a health food nut. Her long dark hair swayed back
and forth as she moved. Two silver combs twinkled as they caught
the much better lighting in the common's room. She wore a black
skirt that cut off close to her knees and a green shirt that
complimented the dark emerald eyes that she was flashing towards
him.
*OK, Dare, when was the last time you started swooning over
some girl you haven't even met yet? For that mater, when was the
last time you swooned over anyone? Keep it together here would
you?!* The odd pair sauntered up to the two younger men. "Well,
now," Blimber said to Neil, "You're Norman's assistant right?
Neil?"
"Yes, sir. It's nice to meet you. And you as well Miss Sabre." He
shook hands with both of them.
"And, you must be the physicist the good doctor keeps bragging
on. Daron is it?"
"Uh, Darien sir." He shook the older man's hand anyway.
"Oh, yes, sorry. Too many names to remember around here
anymore." He chuckled good-naturedly.
Darien simply smiled back and moved to shake hands with the
beauty next to him. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Miss
Sabre."
She smiled a moment and he got a chance to stare into those dark
eyes. "It's nice to meet you too, but please it's just Cora." She
remembered to look over at Neil during the sentence.
"Cora then," he muttered still holding her hand like an idiot.
She smiled again as he noticed the wine coloring that graced her
lips and fit so perfectly with her pale complexion. He began to
wonder if mapping the stars above wasn't easier than trying the
same thing with the sparkles in her eyes.
*Whoa! You are really losing it here!!*
A slight blush crept to her checks before he finally remembered to
let her hand go. She seemed quiet but yet self-assured. And he
liked it.
"So, Daron, how has Norman been treating you so far? You're
still here, I take that as a good sign," Blimber interrupted.
"Darien," he corrected automatically. He was staring straight at
the older man but all he could see was Her. "Dr. Benton is a
wonderful person to work for. I really like it here, thank you." It
sounded like some canned acceptance speech, but he was out of
new ideas. Besides he was rather preoccupied with trying to come
up with something else to say to Cora.
"Yes, Darien, sorry," the man muttered trying again to commit it to
memory.
"Did I hear Dr. Benton correctly? Have you been with the
foundation for twenty-two years already?" he asked thinking up a
new tactic.
"Yes, I guess I have. My that does make me an old timer doesn't
it?" He paused thoughtfully, mumbling something to himself.
He smiled politely before turning back to Cora who had kept rather
quiet during the exchange. "I don't believe I caught how long
you've been with the project."
"This is my second year," she answered simply, with a smile.
"Let me guess. They snagged you right out of college too." He
laughed lightly at the common phrase used with the Bentons.
She must have obviously gotten the same line because she laughed
too. "Yes, actually they did."
*It's weird, the color is completely wrong but why do her eyes
remind me of Serena's?*
"Well, my dear, I suppose we should get started. We have several
things to get done tonight," Mr. Blimber said.
"Yes, of course." She turned back to him, "It was nice to meet you
Darien." Well, at least she got he's name right. "And you too
Neil."
They were already gone before he came back to Earth. *I don't
know what that woman is, but she's not human!* He watched as
they glided from the room to set up for the next episode of the
night when he noticed it.
"That's not fair." He muttered to himself before realizing that Neil
was still beside him.
"What?"
"Nothing," he said coming fully back into reality once again. He
then felt a light tap on the arm and turned to find Roloma standing
next to him. "Oh, hello Romola."
"Hello Darien. Do you have a minute?" she asked looking to Neil.
"Oh, yeah," he said quickly noting that he was being a third party.
"And, uh, thanks!" he said to Darien before heading off to Dr.
Benton's side once more.
"So what's up?" he asked as he and Romola found themselves
alone.
"First off, what was that!" she said indicating the door Cora and
Mr. Blimber went through.
"What was what?" he asked as innocently as he could.
"You know what," she said with a look that told him that she'd
seen everything.
"It was harmless," he confessed instead. "But it's not fair."
"What's not?"
"She's married! I didn't notice the ring until they walked out," he
grumbled.
She laughed lightly beside him. "Actually no, she's just engaged."
"Really?"
"Yes, to John Blimber's son."
"Oh." He mussed over the news. *No wonder he kept trying to
forget my name.* "Oh, man that is so not fair!"
"Now, you're starting to sound like Serena."
"Sorry, I'm around her too much."
"Yeah, well, you're not the first to think that. Although, you keep
looking at her like that, I wouldn't be surprised if the poor girl had
to call off the wedding for you!"
"Really?" he pondered.
"Darien!"
"OK, I'm just kidding! But what is it about her that I can't get out
of my head?" All he could think of was her and those drowning
eyes.
"She has that effect on people. Though, I didn't figure you'd be
one of the ones influenced like that," she said a little disbelieving.
"Sorry, I'm human," he mumbled.
"I knew that. But that's not really the reason I wanted to talk to
you."
"Oh?" he asked happy to change the subject.
"What's this rumor I hear about Serena dating Neil?" She eyed
him closely as he began to laugh at her.
"Who told you that?" he asked for fun.
"Neil."
"Then it's not hardly a rumor is it?" he asked.
"I don't know." She looked across the room at him. "I really
don't think I can see them together."
"Why? Do you know something I don't?" he asked a little
suspicious now.
"No. Neil is a very nice boy, and I know he'll make someone a
very lucky woman. I just didn't have Serena pictured, that's all."
"Oh, I don't know," he said thinking. "He seems to have a good
head on his shoulders, which is something she needs. And he
really is gone over her already; I think it'll be fine. Besides, she's
been alone for over a year now. Her last relationship didn't turn
out very good. He was a class A jerk to her and she still stuck with
him. Lot of good my advice did in that one, but that's way passed
now."
"I didn't know something like that happened to her." She sounded
concerned which, he reasoned, knowing Romola she was.
"Nothing to worry about now. It was a long time ago and she's
been over him for a good, long time."
"Oh." She paused still looking across at Neil. "So you don't mind
them going out together?"
"Why should I?" he asked.
"No reason. I just wondered." They both turned back to see their
two guilds walk back into the room.
"It's just not fair," he muttered again.
_____________
@}->-- "The greatest ability is dependability" -Unknown.
@}->-- "The best bridge between despair and hope is a
good night's sleep" –E. Joseph Cossman.
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