Walking quickly to the ladies room, she swallowed the pills and pressed her hot, aching face against the cool, blue tiles. Without even realizing it, she burst into loud, wrenching sobs.

Just then the door opened and in walked a new young file clerk named Betty. She hadn't been there very long and Valerie doubted that the woman would have had any cause to want to harm her.

Betty looked in shocked surprise at the sobbing woman and instinctively put her arms around her. "Why, whatever is wrong, Valerie?" she asked in a voice filled with concern, out Valerie only cried harder. Betty made soothing noises and finally, Valerie was able to calm herself a little bit and mumble something about her mother being very, very sick.

Betty patted her in sympathy and helped her wash her face and reapply her streaked make-up. "Look what I have here, Valerie," she said, holding up a joint.

Without waiting for a reply, she took out a light and pushed Valerie into one of the stalls. Lighting the joint, she inhaled deeply and passed it on to the other woman. Valerie drew a deep breath and felt the stuff begin to relax her almost instantly.

Fifteen minutes later she emerged, serene and floating. She felt much, much better. She couldn't be upset about anything now. She moved through the office as if in a dream and even coming face to face with Burt couldn't shake her now. Instead of looking away as she usually did, she looked deep into his eyes and smiled an angelic, trusting smile. "Hello there, Burt. How are you today?"

Burt was rather stunned; he could only surmise that perhaps he had been wrong about her all along, perhaps she had only been playing hard to get, but she was ready to give that up now. He figured that she must have gotten the note by now, but she didn't seem to be in the least bit upset.