Or so close it made no never mind.John tossed his hand over his ear, "OW! Calm down, calm down. What? Really. Watch the watch..." I'm so excited," she... exclaimed. "You are the first person to treat me like a human being! I'm so happy..." and she started bawling.John held his arms open and she crawled up in his lap and cried.Note from author: Insert sobs, drippy nose sniffs and teary eyes at random."Why?" she cried between sobs."Why? Because everybody should be treated decently. Because all I. "Crossman turned to Frank. "I'm sure that I don't have to tell you. After the beating your stock has taken on Wall Street, if your head of R&D is implicated..." Crossman paused and finished the whiskey in his glass. "There'd be hell to pay." We'd be taken over, for sure," Alvin said.Crossman and Alvin stood and went to the bar to pour themselves another drink. Frank looked at them, but the two older men turned away."What are you saying?" Frank asked."Just what I said," Alvin answered. "If. ." They've both confirmed attendance," I rode over her. "I took the liberty of telling them that they would be meeting Beth's fiancé..."Vera snorted again. "You DID? That was GENIUS! Where did THAT come from?" I haven't spent a quarter century in your presence without learning a FEW things about what gets a woman going!" I retorted. "Besides, I AM the genius in the family, remember?" Yes, well..." Vera began.It was time to call her down. "And that's not ALL I am, either! I'm going to stop you. You may be grown up and mature, Erika, to the point where even your mother accepts that you're a slut, but I'm still on that road."Slut," Scarlett said, pointing at Erika with wiggling fingers. "S. L. U. T. You." Thanks," Erika said, smiling again.I can't believe she thinks "slut" is a compliment, Scarlett pondered. Then again, she did give me that book called 'The Ethical Slut'. The title intrigued me when I saw Erika reading it. She told me it was a manifesto for the promiscuous and a manual.