It was a long and quiet trip home. We sat side by side in the limousine without saying a word and even longer on the plane without uttering the smallest of phrases. There were no polite words of thank you or excuse me. There was no anything. He didn't look at me. At least he didn't look at me when I was looking at him. That was fine. I could deal with it. Every now and then he'd clear his throat and start to say something, but then he wouldn't. I guess the great Ricardo Carlos Manoso was afraid of me. He probably needed to be. Nobody likes a hysterical wife, especially in public. Especially when he doesn't really want to acknowledge that she is his wife, much less share that information with the rest of the world. Like I said, it was probably wise to just keep his mouth shut in public.

The limousine ride from the airport to my house was just about as silent. Only now that he was back in Trenton, Ranger turned to business. He called the office and checked in and let them know he'd be back at the helm shortly after a successful voyage. He still didn't say anything to me, but he'd have to eventually.

The limousine stopped at my house and the driver and Ranger carried my bags inside. He stood there in the foyer silently for a moment and he was clearly confused. What was he supposed to do now? Was he supposed to live there with me, or go home to his seventh floor apartment and to Ella? The confusion passed over his face and I waited silently for him to reach a decision.

"Well, goodbye. I'll see you at the office on Monday and we'll talk then."

I didn't say anything. What could I say? He'd made his choice. It wasn't until he had driven away that I realized that he may have wanted me to ask him to stay. But then, he knew what my feelings were. I shouldn't have to make that step. At some point, he'd have to take a step toward me.

I sighed and got in my car and went to pick up Rex. Rex was ever faithful. Rex was dependable. Rex was trustworthy. I always knew where Rex stood. I drove thinking about how much I needed Rex and his stability. Everything that had been stable to me was now sort of scattered. He had become even more important in the grand scheme of things.

When I arrived at the pet hotel and asked for Rex, the receptionist paled. That's never a good sign. Had they forgotten about my baby?

"Ma'am, if you'll have a seat in the room right there," she pointed to a glass enclosed room to her right, "someone will be right with you."

That's not a good sign. It's never a good sign when you go to that room. It's not a good sign. The woman who came in and shut the door and sat down across from me and she started to talk. I think I stopped listening just a few minutes in. I stopped listening probably about the time she told me that she was very sorry and there had been nothing she could do.

Rex had died. Actually, they said he'd gone to sleep and not waken up. They'd followed the arrangements that I'd left for them and had him cremated as I had instructed. She handed me a small ornate wooden box. I'd left a beloved pet and friend and I returned to a wooden box of ashes and bone. It was more than I could bear.

I suppose that must have been the last straw. I suppose if I'd been able to pick Rex up from his nice safe Hamster Hotel and gone home where things were normal, it would have been okay. Everything could have gone on as normal, but this was the last straw. This was the end of my rope. This was it. My parents were moving to Florida. Lula and Tank were honeymooning in Paris. Rex was dead. And I was married to the man I loved more than life. I was married to the man who'd saved me from myself and others for years and it was empty. I was empty.

I sobbed heartbroken in the car all the way home and then cried some more when I got there flung face down on my bed. Then I reached for my phone and pushed the buttons that I needed to push.

"Stephanie," his familiar voice sounded so surprised.

"You said if I ever needed you…"

"What's wrong? Stephanie…what happened?"

"A lot…too much... Rex is dead," I sniffled.

"Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry."

"Where are you?"

"Paris with Christian," he said.

"Brian…I have to get out of here."

"Sweetheart, get on a plane," he said quietly. "I'll be waiting."

So…I did.

Fin

Coming up next is Talk Show Twenty. Brenda is back from Fearless Fourteen. She's just as nutso as ever and she thinks Trenton New Jersey is just the place to get her career back on track. She hires Lula, Sally Sweet and Christian Goodman to help her find her way back to the Mothership of Hollywood. All she has to do is keep from getting killed. For her…that's never easy since usually it's the people she's closest too that want her dead the most.

Will Frank and Ellen or Helen or whatever the hell her name is move to Boca? Will Grandma Mazur and Burt find a nudist colony in Italy that will accept them wrinkles and all? Will Stephanie come back from France single or still married to Ranger? How will Ranger react to Stephanie's escape? Stay tuned to find out in Talk Show Twenty.