Jon and I had unexpectedly shown up at Louise's house. Her husband Vernon wasn't here at the moment, although he was expected soon. I was uncertain, but I thought Louise and he weren't actually living together anymore. Louise, Jon and I sat down in a rather large living room and chatted. Louise was cordial, although I was uncertain whether she really wanted me here. Gradually, however, I sensed that she wanted me to stay, and that she even wanted me to meet Vernon. I dreaded the thought. I had never spoken to Vernon and I was unsure what we would say to each other.

I wondered what kissing Louise would be like; the images in my imagination seemed so real, it seemed as if we were actually kissing. We lay on the couch next to each other, embraced and engaged in a passionate kiss. I could tell she had missed me and was enjoying being with me. I could also tell she was still quite attracted to me.

When I snapped out of my reverie, we continued talking. Louise had a row of about 20 electronic instruments on the floor. Most appeared to be cassette recorders, only more sophisticated. The display was quite impressive and was apparently designed to show off the fact that she now had the money to afford these kind of devices. I myself had left a couple cassette players outside before I had entered; I walked back out to retrieve them. But the cassette players – which had been lying on the ground – were gone; someone had stolen them. I walked back inside, where I found a device which I identified as a video recorder which belonged to me and which I had brought in earlier. I was glad to see it, because I thought it had also been stolen. I told Louise the video recorder was able to show the contents of an ordinary cassette tape on a screen. She didn't have one herself and she was quite interested in mine.

The conversation turned to Vernon again. I was glad Jon was with me, because I thought Vernon might want to fight when he came. It seemed as if Vernon might know karate and I really didn't want to fight him. Louise was obviously apprehensive about what was going to happen; but at the same time, I could tell she wanted us to meet. She mentioned that she expected Vernon to fix her in a stare after he saw me there.

Finally we heard him coming in through the house. I was sitting on the couch and Louise was sitting to my right with a space between us. Vernon walked in, took one look at me and then looked at Louise. Obviously quite unhappy, he immediately walked over to the couch and lay down on it so he was almost touching me. Obviously he was trying to crowd me off so he could be next to Louise. I wanted to be friendly, but I was uncertain what to say.

We talked of the house, which was apparently quite large and had been quite expensive. Someone said something about T. Boone Pickens; I was uncertain whether this house or Vernon's office used to be owned by T. Boone Pickens (a wealthy Texan). At any rate, the house was obviously quite expensive. I mentioned to Vernon that I had only seen this one room. Louise had just been about to show me through the rest of the house when Vernon had arrived.

Sensing that our talking about the house was implying that Vernon had some money, he began saying that he didn't have any. He said business had been bad and he wasn't making any money now. But we changed the conversation and continued talking about the house. We discussed the flowered wallpaper in the room, and then touched upon the large fireplace recessed in one wall. I had to look at it closely to see whether it was burning wood or gas. It was gas. I remembered having recently been in a large house which had a similar fireplace; but I didn't say anything, even though I wanted to brag about the house I had visited.

Vernon began becoming agitated by my presence. He obviously wanted me to leave; it appeared that he was going to try to start a fight. Jon even had to grab him and hold him down at one point. It appeared that Jon knew Vernon. Gradually Vernon calmed back down, and Jon let him up. Vernon immediately sat down between Louise and me. I scooted back a little and began talking. I called Vernon "Jay" and told him Louise and I might become friends. I tried to explain how we were still part of each other's lives. I looked at Louise and said, "I think of you every day. Not in a romantic way."

I continued trying to explain to Vernon why Louise and I should be friends. And then suddenly I said, "I'm married."

Louise was obviously shocked to hear that news. And just as obviously she was disappointed to know I was married. Her smile faded. I now saw that she had indeed been interested in renewing a relationship with me. But now she seemed to not know what to think. Both Louise and Vernon inquired more about my wife. I thought of Carolina. I felt happy about being married to her, although I knew it was going to shock them when I said how old she was. I said, "She's 17. She's from El Salvador."

It suddenly occurred to me that I would like to show them a picture of Carolina. Almost at the same time, I remembered I had a picture of her outside in the car. I also remembered the picture had been taken of Vernon and Carolina together a long time ago. I looked at Vernon and said, "And you know who it's a picture of? You and her."

He seemed surprised by that news. I jumped up and headed for the car. When I reached it, I began going through some pictures lying on the front seat. While doing that, I was surprised to see my old schoolmate, Nunley, walk up and take something which apparently belonged to him out of the front floorboard of the car and walk away. I continued looking through the pictures, which I had taken in a Latin American country. But I couldn't find the one with Carolina in it. However the other pictures were quite nice; I thought I would like to show them to Louise. But they were a little dark. Most were of art paintings. One picture showed a row of old women sitting in high-back chairs. I thought Carolina might be in one, but she wasn't. I continued looking through the pictures, trying to find the one of Carolina. I wanted Louise to see how pretty Carolina was.

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