He said that he would be off work at 6:00 pm if that worked for me. I agreed and spend the rest of the afternoon preparing myself. I showered, shave...d, applied my makeup, did my hair all the usual things one does before a date. I selected a white garter belt with matching stockings and a shelf bra. Over this I wore a short black wrap around skirt. I had a couple glasses of wine while I awaited what I hoped would be an exciting evening. Marcus arrived about 7:00 pm and I greeted him at the. .," Luke said.I nodded as I added, "With the F, not the M." I'm going to have to think this over." Take all the time you need."Luke nodded. I could sense his heart racing. He shook his head at hisinitial hesitation before he said, "I'll do it." Well, that was fast!" I don't want you to reconsider," Luke replied half jokingly."There are no second thoughts here," I lied, almost distraught that hedid not give me chance to remind myself of what a fool I was. " Elspeth smiled, standing up. "We've got to go anyway, and we'll try not to mention it again... but the offer's there if you need it, yeah?" Hope nodded, and the pair of them smiled gently and left, leaving her on the sofa, drained and tired.Marcus and Shawna returned to find the sitting room practically empty. Shawna flopped down into her armchair, seeing Hope's drawn face and closed eyes as Marcus took his bag into his room to swap his books out for the afternoon lectures. When he returned,. .."He'd never seen his father cry before. No matter how bad the crowds orstories got he'd always been a rock. Not now.He couldn't tell his father the truth. No one would believe him. He alsocouldn't bear to watch him suffer without doing anything.He gave his father a hug. "It'll be all right Uncle Andy. It has to be,"he said, remembering the policeman told him they were his Aunt and Uncle.He knew his father well. He couldn't let a girl suffer, and soon hisfather was hugging him back to try to.