They were such a blur. Itseemed like I fell off a cliff and had fallen into some differentdimension. Julie had swooped in and just taken over my life.... I couldsee a partial reflection of myself in a mirror. What kind ofconditioner were they putting into my hair? It smelled awful. The smellwas vaguely familiar. I seemed to recall it from walking by beautyshops. A perm! Oh my God, they were perming my hair. Tears began towell up in my eyes. I was doomed. I should not have trusted Julie."Time to. Then they wrapped everything up in the canvas and hauled ass. I grinned, got up to take a final pee then curled up for the night in my tarp using my shoulder bag as a pillow. It rained a little towards morning. The hissing and sputtering of the drops in the embers woke me.Come morning the sun was out again. I built up the fire a bit to take the chill off, then cut a potato to fit inside my covered cup, added a little water, fit the lid on and edged it near the fire to cook. After breakfast I. It's history. That's all. History." You sure, Barry?" I said it softly. He looked at my eyes. He does that, like he's reading my heart."Jessica Spinetti, I love YOU. The 'you' I found a few weeks ago, the smart, funny, cute, happy thing that shares life with me. You told me that's the real one. I'm not going to back out when things get sticky. You didn't plan this crap. Life dealt it to us. WE deal with it together."I leaned my head against his arm and told him, "Okay, my love. Let's go home.. “It’s very pretty. Did you buy it for a special occasion?”“No,” I reply. “I’ve had it for awhile.”She nods and walks to the door. “Your partner will be here in about half an hour. I’m sure you want to look your best, so I’ll let you get cleaned up and changed.”I shower and finger comb my hair, then let out a short gallows laugh when I realize how much I resemble the woman in the glass casket. There are dark circles under my eyes that no amount of concealer will hide, but it’s the best I can.