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Elizabeth
said with a giggle.   She was definitely
older than Tessa, but not by much.   Elizabeth
had no wrinkles, no crow’s feet, no laugh lines.   And she was gorgeous.   Tessa actually felt childlike next to
Elizabeth’s voluptuous body.
    “He did mention it,” Tessa said softly.  
“Good,” Elizabeth continued. “I didn’t want to have to kick his ass for trying
to keep you to himself.   I mean,
seriously, John tells me Greg’s been MIA since meeting you, which I think is
wonderful.   Greg is a doll and he
deserves a good woman.   I thought we’d
never find him one and as it turns out, he was capable of finding one on his
own.”   She smiled broadly and winked at
her.  
    Tessa couldn’t help but smile herself.   Even though Elizabeth looked like a model on
the cover of a lingerie magazine, there was something about her that made Tessa
like her immediately.   Maybe it was the
fact that she obviously cared for Greg and seemed to look after him and that
made Tessa happy to know that he had good friends.   Maybe it was the fact that Elizabeth seemed
so excited about meeting her.   Maybe it
was the prospect of actually having a girlfriend.   God
knows, it wasn’t easy making friends growing up when she had to care for her
drunken mother regularly.    
    “John and I are really looking forward to having you
guys over tomorrow,” Elizabeth said, resting her hand on Tessa’s shoulder.   “It will be a good time.”  
    “Thank you,” Tessa replied, starting to walk towards
the classroom door.   “It was sweet of you
guys to invite us.”
    “Ha!   As if
we’d pass up the opportunity to meet the girl that got under Greg’s skin,” she
said, holding the door of the classroom open for Tessa.   “I can’t tell you how happy I am that he’s
found someone that puts such a huge smile on his face.   He deserves it.”  
    “Well, it was a pleasure to meet you early,
Elizabeth,” Tessa said, standing at the doorway of the gym.   “I will be so much more comfortable now
heading your way tomorrow.   Thank you for
introducing yourself.   I appreciate
it.”  
    “Absolutely.   Thanks for such a great class.   I’ll be down here twice a week for sure
now.   I didn’t know what I was missing,”
Elizabeth said.   “See you tomorrow.”   She threw an arm around Tessa and gave her a
quick squeeze before disappearing in the women’s locker room.
    Tessa wandered out of the building and to her VW Bug
in the parking lot.   She hadn’t had a
single issue with her car since Greg had it fixed.   In fact, it seemed to be even better on gas
mileage and all the squeaks and squeals were non-existent now.   She probably owed Greg more than the car was
worth given the fact it was a 1998 model, but she did love it, even more so
now.   That darn car was the reason she
met him.
    She loaded her things in her car and headed out
towards Treasure Island and her studio.   About halfway there, her phone started buzzing.   She picked it up and saw Greg’s name on the
screen.  
    “Hey,” she said, answering the phone.  
    “Hey yourself,” he replied.   “I just got a phone call from Elizabeth.   She said she ambushed you in yoga today and I
wanted to make sure you were alright.”   The concern in his voice warmed her.   He really did care about her.   She
couldn’t remember the last time she felt like anyone really cared about
her.   Her mother only cared whether she
had a few bucks for the next bottle of gin.  
    “I’m fine,” Tessa said with a laugh.   “I wouldn’t necessarily call it an
ambush.”   She cruised down First Avenue
North.   For whatever reason, traffic was
relatively light.
    “Elizabeth is really sweet,” Greg said.   “But she can also be a little overwhelming.”
    “She caught me off guard, but she was great.   I’m actually glad I got to meet her.   It takes a little of the edge off of tomorrow
night.”  
    “I’m sorry about that,” he