Mostly it was just to greet people and see that they registered and get as much personal information from them as possible. It is amazing what people will tell you. (Especially if it is an older man talking to a younger woman.) I also had to ensure that there was no problem with the ‘free’ lunches everyone received. It was interesting to listen to the seminar speeches and I picked up a lot of both what was and wasn’t said. (Most of it I had to ask Beverly about later on.) We did a total of eight seminars on the peninsula and I got paid $100 each time. Not bad for about five hours of work a day.

So far my school time is averaging about 30 hours a week. I also spend that much time at Beverly’s office or running errands for her so I keep busy. Which is good because I still miss my former lover Jason but need to move on. Ann started teaching dance/aerobic classes at the “Y” and insists I take at least two of them a week. When that woman gets started she is like the energizer bunny. She seems to instinctively know how far she can push people to get the most out of them without going overboard. She is better at encouraging people and making them feel good about themselves with a smile, a look, and a nod, then any therapist could be. When Ann’s students leave her class they are both physically exhausted and mentally happy. I know she makes much more money as an exotic dancer but this is her true calling.

In an effort to coax me to go to Planet Fitness with her she mentioned that Rico and some of his friends go there too. I almost went for it before I had a chance to think it over a little. I know Rico is gay and have no problem with it. I have no illusions about “turning him straight” or any of that happy malarkey. It is just that I have never seen any of his ‘boyfriends’ and don’t want to. I know that seems hypocritical but that’s just the way I feel.

* * *

Ann was watching Sarah concentrate on her lessons hunched over her laptop. She thought ‘Damn that girl needs to hook up with someone. She is driving herself crazy.’ Then, ‘She is driving me crazy too.’ Jason had been a disaster. The amazing thing was that as smart as Sarah was, when something was too close to her she couldn’t seem to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Ann figured out what happened right after Jason broke up with her. It only took two phone calls to confirm what she suspected, but she didn’t think she could ever tell Sarah. It would hurt her best friend too much and break her heart all over again.

* * *

On the way to Beverly’s office the next day I could see the city’s survey teams working on several more houses along Mallory Street. I wish I knew what that was all about but there is nothing in the paper or on the city’s web site about it. Things like that bother me. With good reason.

When I got to the office Beverly asked me to call her friend Bill to ask what he needed from the grocery store. This is something we always do before heading over there to have him notarize paperwork for us.