No one lives close to here." The girl just smiled at Ali warmly and said she would be all right. They went down in the elevator together and then part...ed. Debbie said she would see Ali the next morning at seven. After they separated Ali slipped outside by the back way so she could surreptitiously keep an eye on the girl.As she expected, Debbie walked to the next block and then put her thumb out to hitchhike. Ali grinned to herself as the car she was watching for pulled up and stopped. Debbie. ”As my friend joined us he spoke again, his voice controlled, calm, yet there was something... “I’m sorry for your loss.”My friend stopped, balanced on her crutches she’d not yet mastered. “Thanks, you lost someone too?”“Too many.” His reply was soft, but that edge was sharper.The sound of vehicles broke the silence, tinted windows, anonymous as those I’d been kept clear of.“Thank you for waiting.” He nodded at us both and turned away towards where the men had been gathered.My friend’s voice. "Never mind lads", she may be a bit feisty now, but she'll be after having another treatment from the expert when you've gone! Right, love?" He had given her bottom a pat as he said it. She squirmed away on the pretext of getting drinks."Oh, Gerald you are so full of yourself, I really don't know what I'm to do with you."Valerie probably wouldn't have fought back at him if she hadn't, a few minutes earlier, watched as Gerald's hand had strayed two inches too low on Janet's hip and turned into. “Arjun! I am talking to you”, she said loudly before I was jolted out of my reverie. I looked up at her face embarrassingly. But by then she had caught my long look at her body and realised what was going on.There was a half-smile playing on her face. “Just wait here”, she said and turned back inside. I was shocked at what had happened and sank into a chair. My heart beat fast. What would Ramya think? Would I lose her friendship? I was scared by these thoughts. Meanwhile Maria came out with her.