Chapter 45: Land of Confusion

(Note: Land of Confusion was written by Mike Rutherford of Genesis with the music credited to him, Tony Banks and Phil Collins. It was from Genesis’ 1986 album, Invisible Touch and reached number 4 on Billboards’ Hot 100 and number 8 on Canada’s RPM charts. The music video for this song did a wonderful parody of Britain’s Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and President Reagan during the above lyrical section of the song.)

Althouse College Gymnasium, London, Ontario

11:51am, Wednesday, January 2, 1980

“Up ‘n at ‘um, folks. Get dressed, and we’ll try to figure this mess out,” Ms. Dillon said with a clap of her hands.

“Momma!” Lynette cried as she lifted her head off my shoulder.

“Your crying ain’t gonna solve anything. Do like Ms. Dillon said and get your clothes back on,” my mother sternly said.

“Eda, Lisa, aggiungi una mossa. Ora!” Maria Masciotro forcefully said as Lisa had hardly moved a muscle on the stage. (Eda, Lisa, get a move on it. Now!)

“Sì, Momma,” Lisa timidly replied as she pushed down on my shoulders to get back up on her feet.

The five of us Time Bandettes and our seven Jazz Band members moved off stage to get our clothes from their storage bins or gym-bags. We dressed in near silence as the adults and the members of Shania’s band talked in hushed voices out front.

When Wayne, Ian, Paul McKenly and I walked out onto the main stage first, Devin said, “I guess we might as well start packing up your equipment, so the stage and lighting crew can begin breaking down this stage. If you want us to transport your instruments over to the JLC with our gear, just set them off near that rear exit.”

Sammy and Eda walked out with Kate, Christine and Beth as Devin said that over the speakers. Sammy then replied, “I think we’ll take our stuff back to my place. We’ll bring it over to the arena on Friday morning, if that’s alright with you, Dev?”

“That works,” Devin replied from the control booth. He then added, “Our crew will be working round the clock, so the plan is to have the stage, sound and lighting systems up and running by ten, Friday morning. If you’ll bring your gear over around then, we can do a sound check with yours and Shania’s band before noon.”

As Devin said that to us, a crew of about twenty guys and four ladies approached the stage with various ladders and two mobile boom lift vehicles.

“When we get our instruments put up, we’ll be out here to help with your stuff,” Wayne said as the Jazz Band members ducked around and behind the elevated stage to put away their brass instruments.

Lisa, Jennifer and Lynette finally appeared out on the main stage, with each of them carrying a storage case for Lynette’s keyboard system or keytar. We worked in that same relative silence to pack our two bands’ instruments and move them to the closest exit to where Sammy had parked her Bronco and trailer. Shania, Paul, Cathy and Steve all wanted the stage crew to move their band’s equipment to the JLC, so it was moved to the exit Devin indicated earlier.

As our friends were helping us put our instruments in the trailer, I heard a car down slam a few spots down from us. When I poked my head out of the trailer to see what was going on, Zupena and Shannon were walking up the snow-covered sidewalk to our location. Neither of them looked happy.

When they got to the trailer, Shannon shook her head and said, “Tempe’s in Zupena’s car and just wants to get out of here. She’s agreed to go with us to Sammy’s place where we can, uh, kinda talk if that works for you.”

“Is she alright?” Sammy asked as she stepped out of the trailer onto the sidewalk.

“Sorta, maybe, I don’t know,” Shannon stammered.

“She is confused, upset, but no tell us why,” Zupena added as she hugged Lynette and Lisa, who were carrying Lynette’s cased up keyboards from the gym.

“Just take Tempe back to Sammy’s and we’ll be there as soon as we can,” I replied as I took the case from my girls’ hands and moved it into the trailer.

“Can I go with them, Mike?” Lisa asked with the saddest face I’ve seen in a long time.

“I think you need to stay and help us, Brick,” Lynette replied and I nodded my agreement to Lynette’s words when I stepped out of the trailer.

“Let’s let Zupi and Shannon take Tempe, and as I said, we’ll get there as quick as we can. We still have a job to do here, and then we’ll see about Tempe. Okay?” I added as Lisa looked like she was going to start crying again.

After leaning on Lynette for a moment, Lisa pushed away and hotly said, “Let’s get this shit in the trailer, then.” She immediately turned and stormed back into the gym for the next load of equipment.

“We see you, shortly,” Zupena softly said, and then took Shannon’s hand to walk back over to her aqua and tan Chevy Impala.

In fifteen minutes, we had the rest of our instruments loaded and strapped tight in our trailer. After saying our good-byes to our STB friends, a few Jazz Band members, the concert workers, and the few parents who were still in the gym, we made our way out to our cars. In the parking lot, Tamara Sullivan was waiting for me, Lynette and Lisa at my Barracuda. After giving us hugs and words of encouragement, she added, “If Tempe is in a foul mood or gets ugly with you, don’t for a minute think you that have to put up with it. Just bring her back home to me, and we’ll give her some time to work all this out. Okay?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” I softly replied as my two girls nodded their agreement. Lynette moved the passenger seat forward to let Lisa in the backseat as I moved around to the driver’s door.

“It will all work out the way it’s meant to be,” Ms. Sullivan said right before I lowered myself down into my muscle car.

As I started my car, Lisa softly asked, “Is this the way it is meant to be?” Without waiting for either Lynette or me to reply, Lisa more forcefully asked, “Why didn’t she just have that damn knee surgery, so we could all be one happy family?”

“Tempe was scared to death of having that procedure, Bricky,” Lynette softly replied as she turned in her seat to look at Lisa. She then added, “She was as petrified in guest house’s bathroom the other night with me and Cuda as the day she was forced to strip for her NIS week.”

“Unlike us with our sports and band, Tempe only has gymnastics as her one awesome activity. And even having Dr. Fowler do her surgery, there was no guarantee that she’d ever get back to the championship level she’s now at,” I said as I pulled out behind Sammy’s Bronco and trailer.

“But what if...” Lisa started to ask. Lynette mercifully cut her off with,

“We can ‘but if’ all day long, Bricky but that won’t do us a damn bit of good ‘till we actually talk with Tempe and see what her state of mind is right now.”

Our short ride from Western to the Labatt mansion was completed in troubled silence as I followed our trailer up Western Road to Richmond Street, and then the mile distance just north of London’s city limits.

As I turned left into the Labatt’s driveway, I said to both girls, “Let Tempe say something first, please. Don’t bombard her with questions, either. Show her nothing but love before we try to figure out what is going on, okay?”

“I’m scared, Mike,” Lisa tearfully said from the back seat.

“We all are, Bricky but we need to do as Cuda said, and not rush into anything with Tempe,” Lynette replied as she reached back to rub Lisa’s jean covered thigh.

Sammy parked her Bronco and the trailer in front of the mansion’s large garage. Eda, Wayne, Jennifer and Sammy got out and walked the short distance to the guest house’s front entrance as I parked behind Zupena’s Impala. When the three of us were out of my car, I told my four friends basically the same thing I said to Lynette and Lisa about giving Tempe all the time and space she needed before we should attempt to ask her anything about her feelings and actions.

I held the front door for my friends as we entered the guest house. I wasn’t surprised that Ms. Katie was there, sitting at the kitchen island with a can of Coke in front of her. I thought I heard Ms. Dillon say she was going to call Sammy’s step-mom to see if she could be there when we all arrived.

We could tell that Tempe was still miserable and had been crying as she sat with Shannon in the leather loveseat. I was a little surprised though that she was right against the edge and leaning on the arm-rest, instead of being snuggled up or close to Shannon. When Tempe saw me step into the living room area, she straightened up some and then softly asked, “Can I talk with you in private, Mike ... please?”

I gently took a hold of Lisa’s arm and held her back as I sensed she wanted to rush to Tempe after our petite friend spoke to me. When Lisa looked back at me, I mouthed, ‘Let me talk with her.’ I then released my grip on her arm and motioned for Tempe to come with me as I waited for her to get up from the love seat.

When Tempe neared me, Lisa and Lynette, Lisa softly whispered, “I love you, Tempe.”

Tempe gave her best friend a weak smile and then lowered her head without returning Lisa’s gesture. Our little gymnast slowly made her way back down the hallway to the guests’ bedrooms. I gave both Lisa and Lynette’s hands a squeeze and then followed our troubled friend towards the master bedroom. As I walked by Katie, she softly said, “Good luck in there, Mike.”

Tempe was sitting on the bed when I stepped in the room and closed the bedroom door. I paused inside the bedroom for a moment, trying to access Tempe’s mood and my own feelings. When I started to walk over to her, she held her hand up and softly asked, “Can you sit in the chair, please. I don’t feel very ... I don’t know ... very lovable right now.”

I stopped about five feet from Tempe and whispered, “We all love you, Tempe and we’ll do whatever you need us to do to make all this better for you.”

“I know you guys love me but something has started to eat me up ... inside, and I just can’t picture myself being with any of my girlfriends anymore ... even with Lisa,” Tempe replied in a surprisingly calm voice. She jabbed her right fingers against her breast bone as she mentioned being eaten up inside.

As I knelt down in front of her, keeping that same five feet distance between us, Tempe continued, “It started on New Year’s night when I got home. Something about seeing my mom and Tina naked almost made me nauseous, and it happened again this morning when we were getting ready to go to UH for my unneeded surgery appointment.” Tempe then pulled her legs up and curled into a ball on the queen mattress as she added, “I tried to like it when I saw everyone up on stage naked, but when Lisa, Lynette, Sammy and E all moved to hug me after I told them my knee was perfect, well ... it seemed like a switch flipped inside my head and I really couldn’t stand being touched by them, especially Sammy and Lynette... ‘cause they were naked.”

I started to slide across the carpet towards the bed when Tempe gave me a ‘stop’ signal. After taking a few moments to gather her thoughts, she said, “I only want to be with you, right now. I tried to make myself want to be with Lisa when she came into the living room, or with Shannon or Zupi when they got to me near Western Road, but that loving-sexual-feeling for them has gone, Mike. I’m sorry, but it’s just not here in me anymore.”

“Oh, my sweet Tempe. I was afraid that this was happening. I felt something weird on the stage at our rehearsal. Lynette did, too, and this has to be the...”

“It’s the price I’m paying for having my knee fixed, isn’t it, Mike?” Tempe interjected on my statement. Before I could respond, she then pressed her hands over her face and started to cry as the realization of all this finally hit her. With tears soaking her hands and face, Tempe cried, “Because I don’t wanna be with your girls anymore, that ma-means I can’t have ya-you either, doesn’t it?”

I took a moment to comprehend what she just asked and let out a long, slow sigh. After taking in a lungful of air, I softly said, “I don’t know what is going to happen with us, with you and me, Tempe. For the past few weeks, it’s always been all of us, and now ... I just don’t know what to make of this change.”

“I won’t ask you to give up the others, Mike,” Tempe softly said with her hands balled up in front of her face.

“And I’m not planning on giving you up, Tempe. Right now, we’ll just have to go with your new feelings ... about not wanting to be loved on by the other girls. We’ll see how all this plays out for us,” I said as I crawled over to the bed and rested my head on Tempe’s jean covered calves.

I simply rubbed her legs for a few minutes as we struggled to comprehend all of this. When I lifted my head from her lower legs, Tempe softly asked, “Can you take me home, Mike? I just don’t think I can do this, you know talk with everyone ... especially with Lisa, right now.”

“Yeah. I can take you home, Tempe,” I replied as I pushed on the mattress to stand up.

“Can you tell them ... everyone that I’m sorry and I’ll try to ta-talk with them later?” Tempe asked.

“You know I will, Tempe. You know I’ll let them know how you’re feeling,” I replied.

“No, I don’t want you to explain this, Mike. That is my responsibility. I’ll do it ... but I just can’t right now,” Tempe said with conviction.

“Okay, Tempe. Okay. C’mon, let’s just say good-bye to everybody, and I’ll get you home.”

I held Tempe’s hand as we walked back to the living room. Our friends were on the edges of their seats when they saw us emerge from the hallway. When Lynette started to get up from the sofa, I held my hand up and said, “I’m gonna give Tempe a ride home. She’s had a rough day and just needs a little time and space.”

“See you guys, later,” Tempe weakly said as we grabbed our coats from the coat-tree by the front door.

“Don’t go, Tempe ... please,” Lisa cried as Lynette wrapped her arms around Brick’s waist as she got up from the sofa.

“I have to, Lis. I just have to,” Tempe cried before darting out the front door.

I gave everyone a negative head shake and then said, “I’ll be back in a few,” before following my heartbroken girl out into the cold, January air.

When I got back to Sammy’s, I knew I would be bombarded with questions about Tempe and what was going on with her. I wasn’t looking forward to it because I promised my troubled girl that I’d let her share how she was feeling with our friends. As soon as I opened the front door, it started.

“How is she?” “What is happening with her?” “Is everything going to be alright with Tempe, Mike?” were fired at me all at once.

Mercifully, Ms. Katie shouted, “Stop this, now!” as I was mobbed by my worried friends. Only Lisa continued with, “Please tell me how my Tempe is doing, Mike?” as she clung to me like white on rice.

I kissed the top of Lisa’s head and whispered, “She’s tired, she scared and I think she might even hate herself some, right now, Bricky.”

“Please take me over to her, Mike. I know I can make her feel better,” Lisa cried as she tried to nudge me back out the front door.

“No, Lis. That is the last thing she needs right now. Trust me on this,” I replied with tears at the corner of my eyes.

“Let Mike come in and get his coat off, guys,” Katie said in a more calm voice as I was still barely inside the front foyer.

After I sat down in the leather recliner, Lisa claimed her spot in my lap as the rest of my girls and friends sat down on the sofa, loveseat or on the carpet in front of their ‘Significants’. With Lynette, Shannon and Zupi crammed together on the loveseat, Lynette softly asked, “How is Tempe really doing, Mike?”

I let out a slow sigh as I gave her a slight negative head motion before I replied, “I’m afraid the cost is gonna be steep.” When Eda started to ask what I was referring to there, I held up my hand to have her stop. I then added, “I promised Tempe I’d let her tell you how she’s feeling, so we all just need to give her the time and space she needs ‘till she feels good enough about herself to talk with us. Just know she’s physically fine but she one scared and really confused little girl at the moment.”

Lisa mashed her head back against my shoulder and softly whimpered as she was truly scared and concerned for her best friend. I did my best to comfort my youngest girlfriend by rubbing her back and along her arms as she stammered and sobbed against my chest.

After a few minutes of broken silence, Wayne asked, “Do you need a Coke or something, Cuda?”

“Yeah, that would be great, Wayne. Thanks.”

“I’ll bring it to you, Mike,” Ms. Katie said as she pushed herself away from the kitchen island to grab my drink from the fridge.

After taking the cold can from Katie, I took a swig and then gently put the cold can up against Lisa’s forehead. “Cold. Feels good,” was all she softly said as she snuggled tighter to my body.

“Have a drink, Bricky,” I softly said as I rolled the can over the bare skin of her forehead.

Lisa angled her head to look up in my eyes. She simply stared at me with her tear-filled eyes for a few moments, and then whispered in my ear, “You have to tell me what’s going on with Tempe, Michael. I’m dying here not knowing what has happened to my best friend.”

I stared back at Lisa for a moment, and then kissed her forehead and both teary-eyes. With her head nuzzled back against my chest, I softly said, “C’mon. Get your coat and we’ll go for a walk, ‘kay?”

As Lisa came back to life in my lap, Shannon leaned forward out of Lynette’s hug and asked, “Can we come with you, Mike?”

When Lisa got on her feet, I pushed myself out of the recliner and moved over to the loveseat and knelt down in front of my three Medway girls. I then said, “Brick and Tempe are super close, so if I’m gonna get in trouble with Tempe, it’s just gonna be...”

“Say no more, Mike,” Lynette interjected as she reached forward to hold my face in her two hands.

“Jā, Mikhail. You go with Lisa. She is hurting real bad,” Zupena softly said with tears in her eyes.

“I love you, girls. I want to tell you but I promised...” I tearfully said.

“We love you and Lis ... and Tempe, too. We’ll be fine, here,” Shannon added as she patted Lynette’s hand, which was still on my right cheek.

After we got all bundled up in our coats, toques, gloves and a scarf for Lisa, Wayne said, “It will all work out, guys. Just stay safe out there in the cold.” We were soon to find out how prophetic my friend’s final words would be for Lisa and me.

Both of us walked hand-in-hand out towards Highway 4 - Richmond Street North in the bone-numbing weather. When we turned north to walk along the road’s gravelled edge, I began to tell Lisa how Tempe seemed to have changed in her attitude towards girl-girl relationships. I told Lisa that Tempe didn’t want this and how she tried to overcome her new feelings, especially towards her. I then told my crying girl that this change in Tempe appeared to be the cost of having her knee healed by the Energists. Additionally, I said, “I still believe Tempe wants to be friends with all of you still, but she’s terrified that this sexual type change is gonna end your ‘best friend’ relationship with her.”

We weren’t really paying too much attention to our surroundings along this main, four-lane highway as we softly talked about this change in Tempe. Just as I finished telling Lisa about Tempe’s fear of losting her best friend, she unexpectedly cried out, “No! Stop!“

I wasn’t positive what Lisa screamed for, but I was damn glad she did. At that exact moment, an eighteen-wheeler had just blared it’s air-horn as it veered off the snow-packed pavement towards us along the highway’s edge. Lisa’s angry, yet shrill words activated an Energists’ time-stop bubble around us as we instinctively cowered at the truck’s loud horn. This time-stop definitely saved both our lives, as the massive lumber-loaded Kenworth truck was no more than ten feet from steamrolling and possibly Lisa.

“Oh! Shit!” I cried as I stared up into the frozen driver’s fear-ladened face.

“I don’t know what made me scream that or why we’re still alive, Cuda,” Lisa breathlessly said as she wrapped her arms around my trembling torso.

Just then the air surrounding us crackled as two Energist beings materialized, seated on the front bumper of this fifty-five ton transport missile. I immediately recognized these two beings as Physician-Hippocrates-Alpha and Writer-Twain-Beta. With a slight Cajun lilt in his voice, Twain-Beta said, “Greetings Dr. Mike and Miss Lisa. To answer why you are still alive, Miss Lisa; well, we dildn’t want to see both of you splattered all over the highway, so we ‘mentally encouraged’ you to issue a time-stop command. We wished you would have done so a second or two earlier, but all is good.” As Twain said those last few words, he gently patted the chrome grill on the front of the hunter green Kenworth truck.

Lisa simply stared at the two Energist beings for a couple of seconds after Twain’s explanation. She pushed slightly away from me to stand fully erect in front of the Energists. My busty girlfriend then filled up her lungs with air before lighting into the Energist beings like only a fully enraged teenaged girl can.

“All is NOT GOOD! Damn it!... You! You’re the one (pointing to Hippocrates) who took Tempe away from me. I can’t believe you’d be so mean to us after all the wonderful things my Mike has done for your people. You, neither of you (pointing to Twain now) can’t deny that your kind would be in a world of hurt if Mike didn’t help you, even though he had to give up his life with his fiancée, Kaleigh and his unborn twins.” Lisa paused only long enough to get another lungful of air before she hotly added, “Tempe is my best friend in the world, and you have destroyed a loving relationship for no real reason.”

When Hippocrates started to raise his hand to say something in defense, Lisa venomously shouted, “No! Don’t you dare try to justify your stupid actions! Healing Tempe’s knee does NOT compare to the anguish you’ve put her, me, all of us through! And, and, if I had of known you’d be in this time-stop bubble with me, I never would have issued that command... ‘cause I, I’d rather die than spend another second here with you. I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!“

If there wasn’t already a time-stop bubble around us, I’m sure the entire world would have stopped rotating from the forcefulness of Lisa’s angst driven outburst. The silence was so thick at that moment that you could have literally cut it with one of Sammy’s Wushu swords. While the Energists had experienced some of my anger at being ‘claimed’ to help them with their transition to a physical world environment, both Twain and Hippocrates were completely blown away by the emotional brutality of Lisa’s tirade.

After what seemed like an eternity, Lisa slumped against my body and softly asked, “Are both of you just going to sit there and stare at me?”

Hippocrates-Alpha eased his grip from the chrome bumper after Lisa’s more civilized words. He then softly said, “I, we are very sorry for the pain we have caused you and your friends. I, no we may have misjudged things...”

“Like the emotional impact,” Twain-Beta interjected on his partner’s words.

“Yes, we Energists have not come to fully understand the influence of emotions on everyday activities within humans, especially young adults like yourselves,” Hippocrates added. “You must realize, though that when we examined all factors in your friend’s request to have her knee fully healed, that some meaningful payment should be required.”

“Oh, I am fully aware that very few good things in life are free,” Lisa replied in a heated tone. “However, the cost of a fixed joint or a broken bone should never be the destruction of a real human relationship.” She then grabbed my arm and said, “Mike, pull that damn Time Bandettes’ credit card out of your wallet. I’m sure our Energist friends can make a machine to charge our band for the cost of Tempe’s healed knee. For us, the cost for something of value like what you did for Tempe, is never paid with human emotions!“

The two Energist beings slowly turned to face each other. I immediately knew that they were telephatically communicating between themselves and with other Energists. After a few seconds, Twain-Beta turned back towards us and said, “Again, we have unintentionally misjudged things with respect to Miss Tempe’s request for medical assistance. For that we are truly sorry. While we can not guarantee that things will revert back to their exact prior state...”

Hippocrates-Alpha then jumped in with, “Due to your complex human neurophysiology. However, we have tried our best to ‘reset the clock’ so to speak, to the make things right for all of you.”

Lisa moved so fast to hug the two Energists that I thought they were going to have heart-attacks due to her lightning quick action. “Oh! God! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Lisa cried as she easily picked up both Energist beings from the truck’s bumper. She spun them around, hugging them to her pink and red winter ski-jacket.

“Easy with them, Lisa. They aren’t all that sturdy,” I cautioned my five-foot-eight-inch, sinewy strong girlfriend.

“Sorry! Sorry!” Lisa throatily said as she knelt down on the snow-covered gravel to safely put the two Energists back on ground.

With surprising agility, both Twain and Hippocrates hopped back up onto the truck’s three-foot high front bumper. With a smile on his face, Hippo then said, “To help us better understand how emotions impact your life, please tell us what you really would have done if we said there was nothing we could do to change things between Miss Tempe and her friends?”

Lisa took a moment to fully process Hippocrates’ question. She turned to me and smiled before she looked back at the two Energists. In a calm voice, she asked, “Would I have been able to end this time-stop bubble without your interference?”

“Yes. The person who initiates the bubble, has the power to end it,” Twain easily replied with a look of bewilderment on his greyish face.

Lisa let out a deep sigh and then said, “Well, with the way I felt towards you when I first saw you, I, uh...” Lisa paused, looked at me and then squeezed my hand as tight as she could with her ski-gloves on before she calmly said, “I was going to ‘unstop-time’ and allow that transport truck to kill both me and Mike because I didn’t want to live another moment without my best friend, Tempe.”

“Oh, cosmoses! No!” Hippocrates unbelievingly replied to Lisa’s statement.

“You most certainly would not have done that, Miss Lisa!” Twain exclaimed in amazement.

After Lisa released the pressure on my hand, she calmly replied, “In a heartbeat ... I would have done that to ended all my pain.”

“Dr. Mike, Miss Lisa, this surely is not how you would have reacted, is it?” Hippocrates once more asked with a skeptical expression on his now paler grey face.

“I believe she would have done that.” “I was ready to die.” I and Lisa replied at the same time.

“Oh my. We have seriously misjudged the influence that emotions play in human lives. We will have to rethink how we train our medical personel on Energa, as our kind have shown some similar tendancies when excountering new physical, mental and emotional challenges,” Hippocrates said as he rubbed his chin with his four fingered left hand.

As the four of us were pondering what just happened in this time-stop bubble, I was completely surprised by the high-pitched cry, “Bricky! Mike!“ coming from our right across Richmond-Highway 4 and Uplands Drive. When Lisa and I turned towards that wonderful sound, we saw Tempe running full-tilt towards us along her street in her purple and white ski-jacket and purple toque.

“Tempe! God! Tempe! I love you!” Lisa cried and took off like a rocket across Richmond’s four snow-covered lanes towards her best friend.

“What? How is Tempe able to join us?” I asked as I watched my two girlfriends getting closer and closer together.

“Just go, be with them, Dr. Mike,” Twain simply replied. He then added, “When you three are clear of all these dangerous vehicles, have Miss Lisa end the time-stop, please.”

Physician-Hippocrates truthfully said, “Again, I, we are sorry for our unintentionally hurtful actions. It was definitely not our objective to cause such painful, emotional trauma to you or to any of your friends and family. Obviously, we still have much to learn about the physical world we both now live in.”

“You know you are always welcome to come and ask us for help. If you wish to have a more ‘adult-like’ perspective on things, I’m sure Ms. Dillon would be happy to assist you, too,” I said as I alternated my gaze between the two of them and my now happily hugging and dancing pair of girlfriends.

“We will most assuredly take you up on your offer of assistance should we find ourselves in need of yours or Ms. Dillon’s advice and experiences,” Hippocrates replied. He then made a ‘move on’ motion towards Lisa and Tempe. As I started to run in my girls’ direction, my two Energist friends said in unison, “Good luck with your concert,” as they vanished into the cold Canadian winter air.