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There weren’t any tables In fact, the press of people was such that I had to take refuge on the patio and order o Better to leave, before people started looking like bloodsicles Besides, I wanted a long hot bath and plenty of time to primp for my date with Bruno I texted E in She replied, "You okay?" I assured her I was, and wasn’t staying long Aabout Bruno while I waited fortime since we’d had an actual date-date He’d been busy with his studies; I’d been on a job And while theydistance relationships suck E-mails, calls, and texts are just not the same as face-to-face, skin-to-skin corow fonder It row lonely At least ina tray laden with food that so cup I forcedpull of my Sunset Smoothie, a concoction whipped up specifically for ular since e When Barbara and her husband found out I’d never again be able to eat solid food, they took it as a challenge and created soest, and enjoy When I first heard as in it, I was a little freaked I reat and I always feel better after I’ve had one

I can try to deny it, but the vampire part of me has different nutritional needs than the hunore the within theed back into the crowded restaurant, heading for the cash register line to pay the tab It was a long line, so, rather than waste ti bored, I decided to call Dawna and check in

"Are you co back to the office?" She had to shout so that I could hear her over the restaurant noise

"I hadn’t planned on it"

"Crap"

"What’s up?"

"There’s an Agent Baker here from the Serenity Secret Service She says she has the packet you requested and needs to brief you before you start your assignment tomorrow"

Shit I looked at the clock I didn’t have tiet ready for ht I just didn’t And while most tiht off

"See if she can ht o’clock? I doubt Adriana gets out of bed that early"

Dawna put me on hold; I’d ot back to ht won’t work But she can do six thirty or seven"

Six thirty? Really? There must be a lot of information to cover I did so travel time from either my house or Bruno’s, and made a decision "Tell her seven o’clock is as early as I can do"

"I’ll let her know"

We hung up without saying good-bye and I paidonlot and I used the little button a friend in the FBI had given me to make sure nobody had tampered withto kill you

7

After the hit-and-run, it took a little effort, but I succeeded in puht was going to be a good night I was going to Bruno’s for our long-awaited and (inback to the old neighborhood and seeing what Bruno had done with one

Gran’s working-class neighborhood had been on a doard slide for a while, but now the area see around The most recent wave of newcomers had been yuppies with small children; they wanted to live close to the city without paying exorbitant prices