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his
disappointment.  “Remember, Doug, I specifically told him I did not want
to relive all the one-sided doing-you I used to do.  That’s in the
contract.  So you can sit here and watch yourself sleep, but we’re done.”
    “Signing off then.   I guess my
two more hours of sleep can start now.”  And he was gone.
    But I wasn’t alone.  The Devil, once again, had joined
me. 
    “I presume,” he said suavely, “that you are now a satisfied
customer.”
    “Well, you presume wrong,” I told him.  “What on earth
were you thinking?  And don’t you make hateful faces at me.  I’ve
raised three children, you can’t scare me.”
    Daemon Lucifer schooled his features to polite urbanity once
again.  “What was wrong this time?” he inquired patiently. 
    I made a discovery.  “Now I get it!  You’re a
misogynist!  That sounded just like something a man would say. ‘What did I
do now?’” I mimicked, complete with heavy sigh and eye roll.  “I’ve
already been told I’m a typical woman, whatever that means, so don’t you start.”
    “Okay, we’ll talk.”  Was I imagining the grim edge to
the Devil’s tone?  Was I finally getting under his skin?  “But I’m
calling loverboy back again.”
    “Doug won’t like that,” I assured him.  “We’re both
sick of each other by now.”
    “Let me remind you, all sales are—“
    “Final, yeah, you already told me.  You also guaranteed
satisfaction, and you haven’t given me any yet.”
    “Are you asking for yet ANOTHER night?” he asked, lifting
his eyebrows superciliously.
    “No, I’m not.  I’m telling you satisfying me is not possible this way.”
    Once again Doug had arrived, tumbling in a heap on my bed,
in time to hear my last comment.  “I can’t get no…” he hummed, looking
quite pleased with himself.
    “Shut up, Doug,” the Devil and I said in unison, then looked at each other.
    “Doug, this woman is insatiable,” the Devil observed.
    “That’s not it at all,” I objected.  “But you had to
get both of us on one contract, and just by doing that, you ruined it for me.”
    “I don’t see why.  Please explain.”
    “You’re not very astute, and that surprises me,” I told
him.  “Doug’s a creeper—“
    “I am not!—“
    “A creeper,” I emphasized.  “As long as I have to
relive any of this with him here in the present, it’s just going to be too icky
for words.  I mean, look at him!”
    “Look at you, Danielle!”
    “And he’s married to another icky person—“
    “Tina is not icky!  You haven’t even met her!”
    “She’s a stick-in-the-mud at best,” I argued.  “She
makes you go to church.  She won’t give you blow jobs—“
    “Now you’re putting words into my mouth!  I never said
that!” 
    “She calls all the shots and you’re scared of her. 
She’s an icky person.”  Case was closed, as far as I was concerned.
    The Devil was looking at me in fascination.  “I can’t
believe I ever thought you had a pallid soul.  I think you’ll fry up to be
quite tasty.  Piquant.”     
    “You’re not the first to underestimate me,” I said. 
    “The thrill of the chase is becoming unexpectedly
pleasurable,” he agreed. 
    “Whatever,” I said.  “I’m waiting for my boss to text
me back.  She’s my legal counsel.”
    “Her?  I made sure she took Ambien tonight,” the Devil revealed.  “She’ll be out of the picture for awhile.”
    “You don’t know how much she likes texting.  She texts in her sleep.  She may even drive up here in
her sleep.”
    “I think we can handle this, just the three of us. 
We’re all mature adults,” said the Devil. 
    “Well, I know a little about contracts.  You promised
me a night of passion with Doug Morris.  Look at the date on the
contract.”  I held it out to him and pointed.
    “What is your point?  It’s today’s date.”
    “My point is that you’re serving up 1995—“
    “I think it was 1993,”