7-17-97, 11:45 AM

I was sitting in the car outside of Maizon’s.  This was a high class restaurant in the city of Hardaway.  Maizon’s was Kourtnee’s favorite restaurant.

Hardaway is the state capitol of Maddocha.  Hardaway had a rich history.  It had a war torn history as well.  To look at Hardaway today, you would never know that a long time ago, Hardaway was once a pile of ruble left in ruins after the Water Crisis of 1837.

Hardaway had museums that told the history of Hardaway.  There were museums that were about art, history, science, and medicine.  Hardaway was indeed the town to be in, especially if you were into culture.

There was a long standing feud between the city of Hardaway and the city of Dorinda.  Dorinda was constantly being voted the #1 city of Maddocha to live in every year.  Hardaway was always behind Dorinda in that poll.

Dorinda was a great city.  It was home to the richest neighborhood in the state.  Anyone who was someone lived in Tanor Place.  Dorinda had recovered faster from the Water Crisis than Hardaway did.  That was because Dorinda had always been one of the richest cities in the state.

The feud did not matter much to me because I was born in Hardaway, but I lived in Dorinda…

My thoughts were interrupted by Kourtnee checking herself out in the mirror.  This was the 3^rd time she had looked in the mirror.  I looked at her.  She looked at me.  She blushed.  I smiled.  For the first time since I had known Kourtnee, I saw her as a woman, a real woman.  I had only thought of Kourtnee as a strong, no nonsense businesswoman, that was all she ever shown me.  Kourtnee was a real woman with emotions, feelings, wants, and needs.

It was amazing to see this side of Kourtnee.  She was excited about seeing this guy, Martin.  Paula seemed excited about seeing him, too.  Paula told me to make sure that I Martin hi for her.  Colt’s reaction was different when I told him about Martin.  Colt gave me a look and remarked something about “that fool, again”.  I wasn’t sure what to expect.

Kourtnee asked me was there some reason why I was staring at her.  I didn’t respond at first.  Kourtnee tapped me on my hand.  I looked at her.  She asked me the same question again.  I responded that I didn’t have a reason for staring at her.  She asked me what I was thinking about.  I said that I wasn’t thinking about anything in particular.  She smiled and went back to looking into the mirror.  I told her that she looked fine.  She grabbed my chin and shook my head.  I sat there staring at my foster mother primping in the mirror getting ready for a lunch date where I was going to meet a guy named Martin Nance, who I knew nothing about, but he had a history with Kourtnee.  Only God in Heaven knew what I was in store for.