AN: Ok, I'm continuing with this story, my attention span doesn't last very long whichever one I work on. Anyway, its 12:30 Monday morning, but I don't really feel like sleeping, plus, I'm wearing my fishnets tomorrow, that should keep me awake. Also, who needs to sleep at night? I have chemistry tomorrow, I can catch up then.

She kept following me. This new girl, Columbia, had turned out to be more a nuisance than a saving grace. No matter where I went, she followed me. I was beginning to wonder if she'd follow me into bed with Riff tonight. The thought disgusted me, and I dropped the mop, and stomped up to my bedroom, with her nipping at my heels. Entering my room, I slammed the door in her face.

I slumped against the door as a wave of guilt washed over me. I was being cruel, and I knew it, but I didn't have it in me to be nice. I wasn't naturally a nice person. In nursery school, I was sent home for biting a classmate, and the teacher had to pry me from her bloody arm. In primary school, I hadn't one friend, spending my playtime imagining the demise of those who displeased me. Still, I had no reason to be nasty to Columbia, I had been spiteful.

I thought of opening the door and inviting her in, but decided against it when I saw I was not alone in the room. Riff was at the writing desk, leaning over a book. He hadn't looked up when I entered, but now, he marked his place, closed the book, and turned his face toward mine. I strode over to him, and stood behind him in his chair. Massaging his neck, I felt the muscles in his neck relaxing. Pulling him up and to the bed, I noticed something I had taking for granted before.

It was silent. Compared to the incessant babble of Columbia, this was a paradise. As I reveled in the hush, Riff peeled off my dress, brushing his fingers over my arms, my face, feeling me as a blind man would a book in Braille. Anything but sightless, he took in my image, lying on the bed, a photograph for him and him only.

Though not a word passed between us, the silence was enough communication for both of us. We knew each other to tell each other novels without uttering a syllable. We knew where we stood in each others minds, we knew our duties. Never a day passed that we didn't know each other.

Later, leaving the room to prepare dinner, I found Columbia still sitting there, her head leaning against the wall, fast asleep. Though our ages were not very different, I could see she was to play the child role, and I had to act the maternal one.