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61

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Liana pulled into a space in the parking lot of the hotel she was staying at in France. She turned off the engine, took out the key and sat still for a moment. Then she turned around and hit Ted on the head. "Get up."

Ted opened his eyes groggily and stared up at Liana puzzled. He sat up and got out of the car, as did Liana. They made their way up to Liana's suite. Liana grabbed her compact off of a nearby table and sat down on the bed. Ted stood by her.

Slowly, Liana lifted her hand to her face and began to peel away at her skin, revealing the complexion of Amy.

"Come here, Ted," Amy said softly. Ted approached her.

Amy placed a hand behind Ted's head and pulled his face to hers. She kissed him slowly and passionately then pushed him away. Ted stared at her, a stupid grin on his face.

"Now where's the book?" She asked.

Ted opened his jacket and reached into the pocket where he had placed 'The Nine Gates'. His stupid grin wiped off his face and turned into a look of puzzlement. He looked inside the pocket, then became nervous.

He closed his jacket and looked at Amy like a child who's done something bad.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked.

Ted hesitated at first, then spoke up. "I... I don't have it."

Amy narrowed her eyes, angrily, at him and bolted up from her seat on the bed. She stood right in front of him. "Why don't you have it?" She asked softly, and calmly as though she were talking to a child who had lost their mittens.

Ted stumbled back a step. "I guess I forgot it in my car."

Amy hooked her hand around Ted's balls and squeezed firmly. Ted emitted a painful squeal. She stared into his eyes with an evil glare for a moment, then finally released her grip. Ted recoiled, grabbing at his throbbing crotch. He fell against the wall and slid to the floor.

Amy walked over to her closet and grabbed her jacket. She put it on.

Ted looked up at her. "You're not going up there."

Amy looked at him scornfully. "I'm not going to dance around this anymore. Once I get that book, it'll be over." She rummaged through some papers on a desk. "We won't have to have these horrible conversations every other day."

"Yeah, well. I'm going with you."

"I'm going alone, Ted," She said, opening a cabinet and looking for something.

"Well, that makes no sense.."

"All I want is for this be over," She said, walking to the doorway. "I'll be back around 7." She opened the door and left.

Ted watched her leave, then he got up. As he was getting up, he hit his crotch on the nightstand. "Agghhhh!" He yelled, cupping his crotch and stumbling around.

After the pain faded a bit, he looked around to make sure that no one was watching him. Then he opened the opposite side of his jacket and pulled out 'The Nine Gates'

He began to laugh.