She handed it to Lenny, who took a big gulp himself. Lenny slid underneath her to the driver’s side and opened the window with the speaker hanging o...n it. The rain had subsided, but was still falling steadily. He replaced the speaker on the stand, then closed the window part-way. The dashboard was still fogged, even with the defrost on High, and he rummaged around in the cab until he found a hand towel stashed behind a headrest. The two of them took turns wiping down the windshield until a man. ’ He left. Paula and Jane sat at the table, unable to believe what had just happened. Marc, their Marc, the Marc they loved, and who, they believed, really loved them, had just walked out. Paula started to cry. ‘Hurts, doesn’t it?’ Jane said, smiling wryly. She meant her bland comment to be funny. Paula nodded but did not smile. ‘I really loved him,’ Paula sobbed. ‘I thought he loved us. I thought this was going to be happily ever after.’ Paula paused and looked at Jane. ‘You knew when he took. I'm so sorry, it's just..." The girl trailed off.I tried to smile cavalierly. "Don't worry, I see it all the time. Here, I'll take you to your dorm."She stared at the ground. "I don't have a dorm." Well then, do you have a friend here you could stay with or--"And that's when she started crying. I stood there stiffly. I was never any good around crying women. I wrapped my jacket around her and gave her an awkward pat on the shoulder. "Here. Let me take you into the office and we'll get this. The following day. Who is doing all the work?And who has paid for it all? Benjamin seems affluent enough, but thegathering must have cost thousands, and while I know the tickets weren'tfree, I strongly doubt if the takings would be sufficient to cover thecost.These questions are easier to pose than to answer, and we arrive atMarie's house with me still pondering. Marie, still visibly annoyed bythe way the evening has turned out, drags me upstairs without speaking,and we stumble into her.