Chapter 3, Millionaires

The Millionaire’s Club: Baltimore

JB and his wife Julia were sitting on one of the leather sofas and speaking softly in the hotel lobby, not too close to the fountain, so that the trickling water wouldn’t compete for his hearing. The elevator opened and Frank, sharply dressed in new a new suit and tie, came into that lobby. They saw him first and stopped talking. As he turned into the main lobby, he smiled and headed in their direction. They all exchanged greetings.
“Julia, you look stunning. Shopping isn’t wasted on you. You look like you’ve just stepped out of a magazine. Very elegantly, I might add.”
“Oh, thank you. You’re a very nice man.”
“So, Frank, have you seen anyone else?”
“I saw Paris and the family yesterday. They had been to an aquarium and were amazed at porpoises and such. One of the boys brought a friend along. You know a lot of teens wouldn’t like all that traveling with their parents, but apparently, these guys like the travel. They said they’re keeping up their school assignments and getting good grades. I think they like not being in the classroom, and they want to keep on their parents’ good side for the money. They’re not dumb. Haven’t seen anyone else.”
“Here’s someone now,” said Julia.
They turned to look where she was looking. Nellie hadn’t spotted them yet and was looking around.
“Over here lady,” called out Frank.
She dropped her jaw and looked excited to see them. She came towards them, radiant, frosted hair shining in the lobby light. She looked very petite in her gray slacks, trendy jacket and blouse. Her glasses were heavier than before; new frames complimented her face.  Her leather bag looked expensive. Her jewelry was classy and understated.
“Hi, everybody. Are you happy to see me?” She gushed.
“Delighted, my dear.” JB was standing until she took a seat. Frank had never sat down, and leaned over to hug her.
They all sat and she began some small talk about grandchildren, when Jesi and Chris walked up.
“Where did you come from? We never saw you?” asked JB.
“Well, Mr. Norton. You weren’t paying attention. We’re at the hotel across the highway, so we just came in through the front door. Chris is going to have breakfast by himself, then go for a walk. I’m going to be meeting with you guys. Our rules were ‘No guests during the meeting’. Right?” Jesi asked.
JB nodded his head as she explained how they appeared so suddenly, and he replied, “Right. Julia is waiting with me, then she’s going out to a nearby spa. They have something to eat there.”
“Yes, I like to say hi to everybody.”
“Oh, you look beautiful. That color is great on you.” Jesi had taken a seat on the arm of another sofa. Chris sat on the end. He and Frank shook hands and exchanged greetings.
Paris commented to Jesi, “You look very relaxed and chic today.”
Jesi was in tight fitting designer jeans, and a conservative blouse. Her shoes were thick soled and sleek. Her Kate Spade purse was sitting on the floor by her feet. Her orange hue had worn off her fake tan, and her coloring was much improved.
As they chatted, Louise and Joe walked in together. When one looked up, then they all looked up.
“Well, there’s my friend,” Nellie said, still in a good mood.
“Yes, I’m here,” said Joe.
“I meant Louise.”
Joe faked surprise. Then he rushed to add, “No, we’re not together. We just met in the hallway. We’re on the same floor. I got here late last night. I was checking my messages on my newest blackberry outside the elevator, when Louise came out of her room.”
“Don’t worry,” said JB. “We know Mrs. Brickey has good taste.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Joe pretended to be wounded.
“Poor boy from Arkansas,” said Frank. “Can’t understand why everybody picks on him.”
“It’s true. Everybody does pick on me.”
“Pretend you don’t care,” offered Louise. She sat in a vacant chair, so JB sat down again. “And besides, if we did come together, maybe your reputation would improve. You didn’t have to jump on that so fast when no one had said anything about it.”
While she was talking, Joe leaned over to hug Nellie, then Jesi, then took a seat next to Chris.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like that. I’m just so accustomed to being teased that I took the defense too fast.”
“Apology accepted. Just for the record, I think everybody knows there is at least a decade, maybe 12 years between us and that alone would prevent either of us from being interested.”
“That wouldn’t bother some people,” said Jesi.
Louise looked at Joe and said, “Well, almost everybody here would know.” Then she looked at Jesi, “We’re not some people. You know how superficial. . . ” She looked at Joe, “Sorry.” Looking back at Jesi, “He is superficial about women. He only wants younger than himself and pretty. He’ll settle for someone closer to his age just for a date, but he only gets hooked on much younger women.”
She looked at Joe, as if asking for an okay. He shrugged his shoulders, then nodded his head.
“As for me, I want someone closer to my own age, someone who understands near-sightedness and reduced hearing and a need for long periods of quiet.”
“I guess that makes me a candidate,” said Frank. They all laughed.
“Me, too,” said JB. “And I’m younger than you by a few years.
They looked at Nellie, and Frank said, “Everybody’s here but Caitlin and Paris. Do you know about Caitlin?”
“No, I haven’t talked to her today. I didn’t travel with them this time. I brought a friend with me.”
“Is this friend of the female persuasion?” asked Joe.
She was about to answer, when Frank cut in, “That’s none of our business, Buddy. Unless the female friend is really good-looking and might want to go out with me.”
“Men are always so self-serving,” said Louise.
Paris emerged from the elevator, spotted their large group immediately, and headed in their direction. She was moving slowly, as if in pain. Her hair was never prettier. Her expensive clothes hung loosely on her thin body, gold bracelets dangled down her bony arm. She was at once beautiful and elegant, and gaunt and pathetic.
She came closer, smiling, toting a huge leather bag. Her pedicured bony feet wore very expensive heeled sandals. Jesi was on her feet and reached her first, hugging her. All of the men, including Chris, rose to greet her.
“Hi, everybody. Sorry, I’m late. I just had trouble getting started this morning.”
“You’re not the last one here,” said Nellie. “This is nice, just sitting here talking. But why don’t we go in and order breakfast?”
They all gathered there things and went in the direction of the restaurant entrance. Julia and JB kissed each other good-bye and said their farewells. Frank asked for their reservation for 8, saying one was not here yet. Chris asked for a table for one. He kissed Jesi good-bye, as the hostess came for him immediately.
Another person led the rest to a big round table. They sat and ordered coffee. Menus were passed. Frank turned one down and said he knew what he wanted. The rest were sure they’d be ready to order in about one or two minutes.
A minute passed and the waitress showed up to take those orders. They each specified what it would take to make them happy and the waitress disappeared.
Then the hostess returned asking, “Does anyone here know Caitlin?” They all nodded or answered yes. Nellie had a look of worry and panic. The hostess continued, “Caitlin left a message for a large party with Paris Roberts that she will be late. One of the children was sick, but she is on her way at the moment. Go ahead without her.”
They thanked her and she left.
“Good thing we did go ahead and order,” mused Joe.
“I wonder which one was sick. He must be okay now or she wouldn’t be on her way,” said Nellie.
Only sports talk was tossed about for a while. Then the food arrived. ‘That’s a relief,’ thought Louise. ‘We’re having a rough time getting started today. Maybe they’re just waiting for Caitlin.’
They ate in silence for a few moments, then the Nascar talk started. Nellie and Louise must have been thinking the same thing because when their eyes met, they almost giggled out loud, but said nothing. Louise didn’t eat much. She was as picky as Paris today.
Finally, when they were almost finished eating, Caitlin appeared behind the hostess, coming towards them. She was stunning for a short young woman who had to battle her weight. Her brown hair was above her shoulders and lightly frosted. Her clothes had a good fit. She had a tendency to wear only drab, neutral colors, but today her colors were trendy yet conservative. All the lines were slimming. It was as though she had been through a makeover. As she came to the table, the women could tell that even her make-up was tailor-made for her.
“Wow, you look great,” said Louise.
“Yeah, I’m jealous,” said Jesi.
“I am impressed. You have really come around fashion-wise. You look beautiful,” said Paris.
Joe was standing to seat her beside him, “Wow.”
Frank also stood for her. As he sat, he leaned to her and said, “You look wonderful.”
Nellie blurted out, “Which one of the babies was sick?”
“Taylor, but he’s okay now. He was fussy and crying for me, but I got him cleaned up. He was happy and playing with George when I left.”
“Why don’t you order something to eat, and we’ll start talking,” suggested Joe.
“You haven’t started yet?”
“Not really. We’ve spent the time together. We ate. We avoided politics and the economy. Now we’re ready to update ourselves. Who wants to be the moderator. ”
Nobody jumped on that. So Frank said, “I’ll do it if nobody else wants to. Unless you want to do it again.” He looked at Joe.
“Go ahead.”
“Ok, we know where we stand on cars. Anything new or different?”
Heads shook.
“Real estate?”
Paris responded, “We finally picked out a house. We settled on one in Stafford County. It sits on two acres. It has a four car garage and a pool. We figured the boys aren’t going anywhere any time soon. So we’ll accommodate them. The pool house has two dressing rooms with separate bathrooms. There’s a tool shed as large as my bedroom. We paid in full and set aside enough money for routine yearly maintenance and taxes and insurance for five years in an interest-bearing account so that we can’t dip into it for anything else, and enough money for utilities for two years. We hope the economy will pick up by then. And maybe the boys will have jobs and be making some money by then.”
             “Good plan. If your other investments lose money, it won’t be coming out of your funds for shelter. My plans have changed. I’m going back to Arkansas full-time. I’m building a house for myself. I bought the land outright. Now I’ve started this process and I’m paying up front at each stage of this game. I want quality work, quality contractors who will do top-notch work, and eliminate any problems down the road. No sink holes under the house or tree roots through the septic tank.” Joe was adamant as he finished.
             Louise offered, “I bought a small house in Rodanthe. The Outer Banks. A real estate firm will tend to it. The promise is that even in a bad year with slow tourism, I should come out even. Provided a hurricane doesn’t hit. Insurance pays to rebuild, for a big yearly premium, but if the land gets wiped out to the ocean, I’ve lost it. That area should not slip away any time soon.”
              Paris was nodding her head, so Louise aimed at her. “Have you been down there lately? I hadn’t been in 14 years, and I went two or three years in a row prior to that. And before that, I didn’t go for about 6 or 7 years. After every gap in time, the shoreline is dramatically different. The shipwrecks get moved to avoid disappearing again.”
              Several marveled over the changing shorelines, before Joe addressed the group. “Do we want to talk meeting-style like the last two times, or keep it casual?”
              Frank responded first, “I think this is casual. I like talking one at a time, so that we all hear, and you don’t have to keep repeating yourself. But I wish we didn’t have to be so disciplined, doing one subject at a time. You feel like the spotlight is on you, and you have to give the right answers or get in trouble. Or what if what you’re doing isn’t as good as everybody else in that area.”
             Jesi quickly dropped in with am excited pitch to her voice. “I know what you mean. Like you’re with a bunch of shrinks, or you’re holding some kind of accountability session. I don’t have to answer to anyone else in this group. I’m not mad, don’t get me wrong. I know that it helps to hear what everyone else is doing, because it makes me think about protecting my investments and not being taken advantage of. And I like everybody here. I want to hear how everyone is doing. I think this helps me keep my feet on the ground.”
         Louise interrupted. “If I may, Mr. Moderator. There are several different issues on the floor right now. One is the format of our little share sessions. I also think Jesi may have some unresolved issues from the last minute. It also sounds like Joe may have an alternative in mind for conducting our breakfast reunions. And I think we spend too much time at each of our meetings discussing our meetings, how we conduct them, why we conduct them. If this isn’t fun for everyone, then something isn’t right. But let’s take one issue at a time.”
         “well, it seems to me,” said Frank, “that we need to address Jesi’s issues first. If we don’t, then we’ll keep coming back to it on every subject.”
         “Okay, Jesi. Tell us what’s going on? How are you feeling?” Caitlin’s food was being served, but she didn’t want to be left out of this. Every one waited quietly until the waiter departed.
         “Well, I feel like every one cares about me. But I also feel like every one disapproves. I feel like I don’t measure up.” Jesi was pouty.
         “I think you measure up just fine,” said Joe.
         “Stop staring at her chest when you say that,” snarled Caitlin between bites.
         “Hey, you can’t blame me. I’m a guy.”
         “It was mostly women doing the criticizing as I recall,” added Frank.
         “Listen up, Bub. Two thirds of men are insensitive and at this table that would cover you two chauvinists.” Caitlin spoke confidently.
         “I am not a chauvinist,” said Frank as though offended.
         “I guess I am,” said Joe. “Or at least occasionally. I try to be a gentleman. I have a daughter and a mother to care about. I want them treated like ladies and given opportunity. But when I look at non-related women over 21, well, I kind of forget lofty ideals.”
         “That’s the whole point! You need to be more diligent about your own behavior and talk. Now I know some crude and crass women invite that kind of thinking, but no one here.”
         Louise stepped in, “Caitlin, calm down and eat your breakfast. Joe, you’re incorrigible and we’re not wasting time today trying to reform you. We’ll take you as you are for now.” She smiled at him to let him know she wasn’t trying to attack him. He shrugged, seemingly happy enough. She continued, “Jesi, what’s going on with you. You have lingering feelings from last time?”
         “ Well, I don’t think anyone was trying to be mean. But I felt so bad. The bad feelings just didn’t go away.” She paused, while everyone looked at her. She took a deep breath. “I don’t think any one realizes what I went through to get a boob job. It took a lot of money. I know I can afford it now, but I’m still thinking like the old days. It took a lot of money to do it. It was serious business. And a lot of time to healing. I couldn’t lift anything. I couldn’t be touched or wear tight clothing. Sleeping was a little difficult the first week or so. It was a really big deal. And I felt like you guys were telling me I was bad to do it.”
         Nellie was the first to respond. In fact she had been visibly holding herself back, waiting for a pause to jump in. “You’re not bad. It’s your body. Who cares if anyone here approves? If you want to enhance your chest size, it’s not my business. I’m a little free with my opinions sometimes. But I just have a smart mouth. Ignore my little comments. What you do is your business. I think that was part of what people were trying to tell you last week. Don’t care so much about what other people think. Whether it’s us, or men in general, what you think is the most important.”
         Jesi seemed mollified.
         “At the risk of being long-winded,” said Louise, “We’re not professional counselors, and we don’t want to be armchair psychiatrists. But from a logical point of view, it helps to be understanding if we look at the facts or what we think are facts. And, yes, we did draw some conclusions and when you made the remarks you did, we jumped on our bandwagons. Maybe we were over zealous. I apologize for leaving you hanging like that, uncertain. I don’t believe anyone criticized you for getting a boob job. I think it was the remarks that you made that hit the ‘go’ buttons.”
         “I have two questions. What do you think are the facts? And what conclusions did you make?”
         Louise looked around at the other women to see if anyone else was going to help. Registering nothing, she proceeded. “You moved around a lot growing up. And you had several step dads. You had some difficulty with one or more of them, maybe with some of your Mom’s boyfriends in between. That would be a surmise, not a fact, by the way. We can infer from this info alone that maybe your mother is insecure, so she would have a hard time passing along to her daughter feelings of security and self-worth that she might not have had herself. And apparently, there was little or no interaction, or healthy interaction with your biological father, so that would also hurt a little girl who really needed stability and acceptance.”
         She paused momentarily for effect, still looking at Jesi. “Am I way off base?”
         “No, right on the money. I haven’t had contact with him in over ten years. And it was only once or twice a year before that. He never gave my mom any money for me that wasn’t court-ordered, and then it was either late or only a portion. He was mad because she left, but he never tried to get me back or get visitation. And he went to jail a few times for drugs.”
         “Sounds like your mother did the right thing if he was into drugs. It was hard on both of you, but it would have been harder raising a child around a guy like that.”
         Caitlin spoke up, “Jesi, I’m sorry we hurt your feelings. That wasn’t our intention. I know where I’m concerned I have no reservation about your surgery. If you’re happy with it, great. But I’ve noticed sometimes you say things that are very mature and sometimes they’re . . . well. . .  Sometimes you say things that arouse my righteous indignation. And it’s not aimed at you, just stirred up by you. Does that make sense?” She was scrunching her face up, trying to keep things civil. “Like last time, you said you did it because of the way men react to it. You felt better about yourself if men approved of you in any way, even lascivious.” She rolled her hand in an iffy gesture.
         “But now listening to Louise, I understand better. You want approval from men because of your father and stepfather issues. And I guess we all knew that in our subconscious, but didn’t lay it out clearly in our own minds. If we had, we might have expressed ourselves better to you. You know it’s kind of like our lips started moving before our brains caught up.”
         “Women!” said Joe.
         ‘Don’t get started. We don’t mind attacking certain people from Arkansas before we think through what to say,” said Louise with a stern look.
         He held up a hand in surrender and shook his head, holding his lips pressed tightly together.
         Paris picked up the discussion. “Honey, I didn’t mean to attack you. I thought we had that all resolved last time. I wish you had called me. We just want you to feel good about yourself. You have a good mind, a great personality, and a great appearance. How you got your figure is nobody’s business. And stay away from lecherous men. Having them drool over you shouldn’t affect your feelings at all, unless they get too close. Then be afraid. But you should feel great about yourself regardless of what any man thinks.”
         “I know. Old habits die hard. And you all did say last time that it was the remark about men, not the boob job. But things got fuzzy in my head afterward, and I just started feeling really bad. But I’ll be okay. I accept the apologies, and I’ll try to be more careful about my thoughts. Not to please you guys, no offense. But to get some more wholesome attitudes, to feel better about myself.”
         “No offense taken,” said Louise with a big smile. “Do you know how mature that last statement was? Bravo.”
         “Now, you’re cooking.” Nellie held up her water glass. “Let’s toast. To a new, stronger, more confident Jesi.”
         “Here, here,” they almost said in unison. Even the men lifted their glasses or coffee cups.
         That brought the waitress with a coffee pot, and another with a water pitcher.
         “I’m okay. What’s the next issue?” asked Jesi.
         “Well, I believe Louise said the format for our discussions.” Frank resumed the role as facilitator.
         “I don’t see what’s wrong with what we’re doing, going around the table.” Caitlin waved her spoon in the air. “We don’t force anyone to talk. I like the idea of letting everyone talk, one at a time, so that we can all hear. And we give everyone a chance on each subject.” She paused placing her spoon on her saucer. When no one else spoke, she resumed, “I guess. . .”
                 At that same moment, Paris spoke up. “If any. . oh, I’m sorry. Go ahead and finish what you were saying.”
                 “I was just going to say that if anyone wants to add a subject or add more statements after their turn is over, they should feel free to do that. That’s all. The floor is yours.”
         “Thank you,” she said smiling broadly. “I wanted to say that if anyone didn’t feel like addressing a topic, they should just say ‘Pass’ or ‘I need to think about it some more’.  I agree we shouldn’t be too rigid. This isn’t a club or a church business meeting. We don’t need Roberts’ Rules of Order. And it’s not an AA group or therapy session, so we don’t need an agenda or set style.”
         “But it is a club in a way,” said Joe. “It’s the Millionaires Club. We have a common background; we have a common bond; we try to help each other; we’ve had similar experiences. We have the same goal: to keep our money as long as possible. We face the same problems, the same vulnerabilities, the same pitfalls.”
         “And we do have an exclusive membership,” added JB.
         “So what do you want to do about the format?” asked Frank once more.
         Louise leaned in, “I propose that we continue going around the table. We all seem to like that. But we don’t have to have the same routine each time. We haven’t so far. It’s been a little different each time.”          
         “Frank said, “So we leave it kind of loose. Is that okay with everybody? We’ll wing it according to what’s going on in everyone’s life.” He looked around for reactions.
         “Okay, let’s continue with the third meeting of The Millionaires’ Club. But no secretary to take notes, oday?”
         They all agreed.
         Frank continued, “Okay, next item. Are we having fun? We agreed that we would do our planning today for the rest of the year, where and when we would get together. You want to do that now or at the end?”
         “Let’s do it now and get it over.” Joe seemed impatient.
         But Paris spoke, “I want to catch up with everyone, talk about interesting stuff before we get bogged down in that. If we do that first, we’ll be too tired to chit chat.”
         “Ok,” said Frank. “What’s first on our non-agenda.”
         “Smarty pants,” said Caitlin, smiling.
         “How about our love lives?” asked Joe, looking at Nellie. “Someone might have something to share with us.”
         “Who?” asked Nellie.
         “I dunno,” said Joe in a teasing southern drawl.
         “Why are you looking at me?” she asked.
         “Well, tell us about this friend you brought along.”
         “Yeah, Mom, tell them about your friend.” Caitlin spoke softly, only half smiling.
         “Okay, I met a guy about three years older, planning his retirement. He’s been widowed for three years. All his children are grown. His grandchildren live at least an hour or more away from him. So he’s not babysitting a lot. He’s comfortable financially, so he’s not looking for money from me. We’re just beginning to get involved. This trip is a really big first for us and it seems to be going okay. We’re not ready to kill each other yet, but it’s a little early.”
         “Where did you meet him?” asked Jesi.
         “My friends who moved to Texas have known him a while. They figured it might be time for him to stop grieving and meet some new people. He moved right after his wife died to DC because he was so down in the dumps, he thought he’d never get over it. He got a related job her, but he lives in Alexandria. So they arranged for us to me. Now that I’m a woman of leisure, I don’t have schedule conflicts with work. We’ve been out a few times. I’m not the first one he’s gone out with. He said the first two dates just before my friends set us up were so disastrous that he didn’t want to meet anyone else. They really worked him over for a few months to meet me. He did it just to shut them up. But it’s worked out so far. We met just before our last breakfast.”
         “And you didn’t tell us anything about it?” exclaimed Paris excitedly.
         “There was nothing to tell then. We saw each other a few more times.” She paused and looked pensive for a second. “I guess now I have something to talk about?”
         
         “Maybe your friends can fix me up,” said Joe.
         “They’ve known me for twenty years. They’ve known Tony for ten years, and they stayed in touch with each of us after we moved, they moved. I don’t think they can match you up after just one meeting.”
         “I think that’s wonderful,” said Paris. “What do you think of him, Caitlin?”
         “I just met him last night, here at the hotel. He seems nice. He’s old. Like he should be.”
         Nellie let out a loud sigh with a head shake. Frank and Louise both rolled their eyes, while JB laughed and said, “You young people don’t know what old is.”
         “At least you met him through people you trust,” said Louise. “He’s not after you for your money.”
         “He doesn’t know anything about that. They didn’t tell him, because I didn’t tell them. I think I’ve been low key in my circles out of town. He thinks I’m unemployed living off my savings, which is technically trued. I saved my lottery winnings.”
         “Anyone else have a love life to report on?” asked Frank.
         “Never been happier,” cooed Caitlin.
         “That might be the one thing that’s going smoothly,” said Paris.
         “I’m in love with my wife. What more can I say?” asked JB.
         “We’re solid,” offered Jesi.
         The table fell quiet. Louise laughed gently, “Ok, Joe and Frank, I guess it’s up to the three of us to come up with something more interesting for next time. You understand your assignment.”
         “I’ll put some extra effort into it,” smirked Frank. “But if it turns out well, I may not want to talk about it.” Almost simultaneously with Joe, he said, “If it turns out badly…” Joe stopped and motioned Frank to finish. “If it turns out badly, I know I won’t talk about it.”
         “Anyone running into any problems, investment problems, or personal, or whatever?” Frank asked as moderator.
         JB spoke up softly and gravely, “My son has been feeling sick lately. He’s been off from work a lot. His fiancée called us last night with the results of the blood tests. He was too broken up to call us and didn’t want to ruin our trip, but she felt we needed to know, and I’m glad she called.” He looked like he would tear up, if they weren’t careful.
         “What is it?” Paris inquired anxiously.
         “Leukemia.”
         They all looked stunned. “No. That’s terrible,” said Frank in a muted voice.
         “How long has he been sick?” asked Louise.
         “Less than a week. He had some sleeping problems for a while before that. They thought he was a little run down.”
         “What are they going to do?”
         “Everything they can. They put him into the hospital this morning. They’re going to try chemo first. It looks very bad. Julia and I are going by there after we leave here and spend some time with him. I called this morning to get the latest and tell them our estimated arrival time. She wouldn’t talk to me in front of him. She called me back ten minutes later, when she was alone, and said it’s very serious.”
         “JB, if there’s anything I can do, let me know,” offered Joe. “You’ve been good to me. I know this is going to be hard on you, Bud. But you hang in there and we’ll all be praying for him.”
         By now his eyes were watery and he couldn’t talk any more. He just nodded his head. The ones sitting next to him put a hand on his shoulders.
         They sat there in silence. After about three minutes of awkward silence and shifting in their seats and tearing up and searching for tissues, Frank said, “JB, if you want to go ahead and leave, we understand. Your heart is somewhere else. You need to be there.”
         “He’s right,” said Jesi. “Are you going to be able to drive? Is Julia upset? If you want, Chris and I can drive you back.”
         “We can handle it. We’ll be fine. I’ve gotten to see everyone now, so I guess we can go.”
         “Keep us informed,” said Paris.
         “We’ll be there for you. Just call,” pleaded Nellie.
         As he got up from the table,  Joe and Frank both stood up to shake his hand somberly. Paris got up to hug him, followed by Jesi. He went around the table to each of the other ladies for a tender hug. As he and Louise let go, they still stood there crying softly. She almost whispered, “I know it hurts.”
         “And I know you’ve got things of your own going on. Take care of yourself. Let me know if you need me. Okay, Ms Brickey?”
         She nodded. “Your family is in my prayers.”
         They watched him leave and regained their seats. “Everything else we do is anti-climatic,” said Frank.
             Paris was still deep in thought.”I’m thinking how I’d feel if it was one of my boys.”
         “It has to be devastating,” added Caitlin. “We weren’t much comfort to him.”
         “There is no comfort in these moments. There are no right words to say,” said Louise in a low dull tone. Her gaze was trancelike. “It can go either way for his son. You hate to give false hope, but you don’t want to be a prophet of doom either. I had a relative in his 40’s who developed leukemia. He was gone within a few weeks of his first symptoms. It was a total surprise.”
         “I suggest that we wrap this up or move into the lobby, so that the wait staff can have the tables,” said Frank. “Want to move back out to the sofas?”
         “Let’s work out the calendar first. Then we can chat in a more casual atmosphere.” Caitlin had whipped out her little calendar. The others followed suit.
         Frank began again. “Ok, we said June?