  *****
      TWO WEEKS LATER
      *****
      They stepped out of the store to meet a considerably aged sun beating a slow retreat. The evening was getting older and night was certainly not far away, but Lance still had no thought of excusing himself.
      He'd tried twice so far, but Selene still wouldn't allow him help her carry at least one of the grocery bags. He had escorted her here from school after their classes had ended and they'd come in her car since he'd lent his to a close friend who needed to run an urgent errand. But all this time that he had tagged along with her, they'd scarcely said more than just a few words to each other. Even though he'd known the woman for a few months, Lance still didn't find it easy to engage her in conversation.
      She had a way of switching between formal and informal so markedly that he was always putting extra restraint on the use of hi

  Cara was seated quietly on her couch, legs folded under her and a glass of wine in her hand. The room was well-lighted and she was occupied with staring at the bottle of wine on the table as if she could read her future in the dark-colored liquid encased by the transparent glass of the bottle. Lisa had gone to bed - she had seen to that only minutes ago - so she had no company other than her thoughts. And they were mostly centered on the events of the last 40 hours or so.
      The morning of the previous day, she had woken up as usual with a broken heart, but by afternoon, she had patched it up temporarily and was ready to move on through the day. When evening came, the biggest blow was made to her bandaged heart when she saw Lance outside that grocery store, but somehow, he had managed to make everything better. Her inner self wagged a threatening finger at her as her mind touched on

  When Lance finally returned home, he walked into the house a little awkwardly, despite his efforts to look normal. It was still morning and he didn't expect to find anyone at home, but yet, the front door wasn't locked. The TV in the sitting room was also turned on. He grabbed the remote control and turned down the volume, but suddenly, he heard a sound emanate from the direction of the kitchen. Oh, perhaps Mom's taking a day off work, he thought. Turning his steps in that direction, he walked into the kitchen unannounced.
      "Morning Mom," he greeted as he went over to the fridge. There was no response and he wondered if she was mad at him for not informing her the previous day that he would stay the night after the "party". But he had told her, had he not? Anyway, for now, he was more focused on getting himself filled with both food and drink after the punishment he had received f

*****
      TWO WEEKS LATER
      *****
      They stepped out of the store to meet a considerably aged sun beating a slow retreat. The evening was getting older and night was certainly not far away, but Lance still had no thought of excusing himself.
      He'd tried twice so far, but Selene still wouldn't allow him help her carry at least one of the grocery bags. He had escorted her here from school after their classes had ended and they'd come in her car since he'd lent his to a close friend who needed to run an urgent errand. But all this time that he had tagged along with her, they'd scarcely said more than just a few words to each other. Even though he'd known the woman for a few months, Lance still didn't find it easy to engage her in conversation.
      She had a way of switching between formal and informal so markedly that he was always putting extra restraint on the use of his tongue whenever he was around her. He only talked when she talked, smiled when she smiled, but 

Chapter 12