“Good morning!”I blinked slowly. “What time is it?”“I don’t know. I’ve been awake only a few minutes. You know, you’re beautiful when ...you sleep.”I dropped my face and started to object, but Rhee continued, “That makes sense because you’re beautiful when you’re awake.”“Oh, stop it. I am not.”“Girl, you’re the prettiest girl in middle school. I can’t believe that you don’t know that. When the boys aren’t staring at my boobs, they’re staring at your face. Considering that they’re all teenagers, I. I wouldn't bother him over the weekend. I doubt if it's that important, but definitely talk to him."I nodded. Allison seemed to collect her thoughts for a moment and went on. "I think you and Shannon are going to be on your own here pretty soon. I hate to say it but Mark's all hands. And before you even think it, I don't want you to say anything about it, or try to do anything. I can handle him just fine. It's nothing serious and he hasn't tried to insist, but I have to keep pushing his hands. They were going to church for eleven o’clock services, and I promised to be done and gone before then. Kirk and Deanna wanted to ride their bikes Sunday afternoon, so the baseball game was forgotten. I didn’t mind. We knew a big area when they could ride safely. I had given them the helmets that the boys wore, after Yolanda and I cleaned them thoroughly. I would be quite happy to be sitting with this captivating woman while we watched the kids have fun. Perhaps I could get a little closer to. " Of course," Maria smiled, "you're not the little kid across the hall anymore."Glancing over her shoulder, Maria gave instructions to the two boys from the mailroom as to where they should take the piles of reports they had just loaded on their hand trucks. As they left, she again turned her attention back to Jim."I know you had to have really hustled to get this report done for me," she said, "and I want you to know how grateful I am." It's okay," Jim smiled. "I was happy to do it." At least.