From the top of the cliff, the view was breathtaking. The light of the setting sun sparkled like fiery diamonds on the gently heaving sea. Looking out to the horizon this quiet evening, it was possible to understand why early navigators thought the earth was flat; it seemed to go on and on until it simply stopped.

She smiled at the soft crunching step that came from behind her, but did not turn. Strong arms encircled her slight form, and warm lips caressed the tender nape of her neck. She sighed.

"I've missed you, Michael" she breathed.

"Yes, it's been too long." His fingers sought out hidden hairpins, gently letting down her hair and working his hands through the warm, honey-colored mass. She turned in his arms to face him. Gray eyes stared into green as their faces drew closer and closer together. Then, for a time, they saw nothing.

At last he drew back and turned her once more to face the sea, resting his chin on the top of her head. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to get away for so long."

"It's all right," she replied gently. "I know the schedule is difficult this time of year." She gave a contented sigh. "I'm just glad Holly decided to rebuild Time Out, otherwise you wouldn't even be here now." She glanced up at him. "How's that going, by the way?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. I think there's some conflict about room sizes. The budget is tight, but some of them are still insisting on a bedroom that can accommodate a California

Custom King size bed and ceiling mirrors. They may not even be beyond the design stage yet."

"Good," she said, snuggling deeper against his chest. "More time for me. In between LFN episodes, of course."

In silence, they gazed out at the peaceful ocean.

"You know," she began hesitantly. "If you have more time these days maybe this would be a good time to talk about….you know…what I asked you a couple of weeks ago."

"Aah," he chuckled deep in his chest. "The favor you wanted me to do for you."

"Well…yes," she said uncertainly. "Is it still all right with you?"

He turned her back to face him and looked down into her face with a tender expression, brushing his fingers across her cheekbones. "My dearest Enjoue`, don't you know that I would do anything you asked?"

Her smile would have melted granite. "Thank you, my love. This means so much to me." She reluctantly disengaged herself from his embrace and reached into an inner jacket pocket, working out a folded wad of papers.

"Here are the applications…I hope there aren't too many."

He raised his eyebrows a little in surprise at the number of pages. He cleared his throat. "Well…no…I supposed this is fine, since it's important to you."

Enjoue` threw her arms around him exuberantly. "Oh it is, it is! These people have been so nice to me, they've read all my stories and put up with all my insecurities. They've allowed me to cultivate an interest I've always had but never had the opportunity to pursue." She went on faster and faster. "They come from all walks of life and are all ages and that makes the discussions terribly interesting. They're all so generous and welcoming and open-minded."

He patted her shining hair soothingly as she prattled on. "They're such an interesting bunch too, you should read the stories that get written and see the analytical process that goes on - and the HUMOR!" Here she paused to slap her knee and guffaw. "You would never have thought a MOOSE could be funny!" She went off into gales of laughter.

"There, there," he said uncomfortably, patting her shoulder. In his opinion, too much externalizing was not a good thing.

At last she got herself under control and wiped her eyes. "Sorry, I got thinking about Ode to RD and Jailbreak again." Another deep breath and she was back to normal. "OK. Where were we?"

"The people…" he prompted.

"Right. So…I started thinking about what I could give back to these women that would be worthy of all that they have given to me. There was only ONE thing which could come close. *J1NWM!!*" Her expression was transported, and she clasped her hands together in joy. "And I can't tell you how grateful I am to you for making it possible." (author's note: I humbly beg the pardon of anyone of the male persuasion who might be hiding behind a female-sounding nickname.)

Michael nodded, his smile a little strained. "Yes. Well, you can make it up to me somehow." He reached out to take the sheaf of papers from her hand. "Hmmm. What information do

you have here?"

"Oh, just the standard stuff for forms…you know."

He looked down at the tiny, cramped writing which covered the first application. He turned the page over and noted that it continued on to cover the entire back side as well, without any margins. "What is all this?"

She looked to see, then laughed, a little sheepishly. "Well, I asked the girls to write down some of their, um, preferences. That's Norma's application. I guess she didn't understand that I meant for them just to hit the highlights, you know? She wrote down everything she prefers." Enjoue` glanced once more at the closely-written page, adding, "and it appears that she prefers just about everything."

Carefully, Enjoue` returned the sheet to the top of the stack. "Norma has to be first, now. She did me an enormous favor and I'd like to repay her."

"Good. Fine." He flipped through some more applications. "These women have unusual names; mln, pbj, mej, sw, cmt…is this an American idiosyncracy?"

"No, no," she laughed. "Those are just nicknames. Everybody picks something different. Some choose less unusual names…Jo, Susan, Betsy, Deb, Sally, Karen, Zoey…you see?"

"Good. Fine." Michael commented distractedly, looking at the picture attached to the next application. "And *who* is this?"

Enjoue` peered at the page upside down. An extremely attractive woman looked out from the picture with a calm, composed gaze. "Oh, that's Zzoomama."

"Hmmm," Michael said, rising interest clearly evident in his tone. "I prefer older women. So much more experience. So much more…appreciation."

Enjoue` raised one eyebrow at that. She wrested the remaining applications from his hand. "Yes, Dearest, I know you like older women. I'm personally appreciative that you do. You can take a look at the rest of these later."

"And now?" he questioned, his gaze holding hers.

"Now….I want to show you a little…appreciation…."

POLITE FADE TO BLACK ***********************

More Author's Notes: Thank you thank you thank you to all you wonderful people. You are smart, creative, articulate and funny! While it was not possible to put the names of everyone I'm including here, I want you ALL to know how grateful I am for the kind welcome, generous story reviews and stimulating thinking I have found here in the past three months. This is a singular group of people (if that's not an oxymoron). THANK YOU!

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