"Remember what I said about taking baby steps. Read the meditations three times a day for the next week and we'll talk about them." They walked to the door and Jenny rested her hand on the curved handle. "Usually my clients get hugs when they leave."

No way. Crystal backed up a step. "I'm not the hugging type."

Jenny put her hands up. "Okay. Just know that hugs are always allowed." She put her hand on the handle again. "One last thing. What I said out our personal and professional relationships, I meant it. We can talk about things in here but if you come to the softball games or I'm hanging around with Laura, we're just Jenny and Crystal, got it?"

"That mean you won't rag on me if I grab a few drinks after the game?"

"As long as you behave responsibly and don't drive or put yourself in dangerous situations." She opened the door. "I'll see you here next week." Next week. She did it. Jenny had agreed to help her. She paused at the doorway. "Hey Doc?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks." Crystal forced a smile to her face. Inside she was both thrilled and scared. "I

I don't know if I can do this but I'll try. Just don't get too disappointed in me if I can't, okay?"

"Crystal" Jenny's hand reached for her shoulder. "I told you this wouldn't be easy. I don't expect perfection and neither should you. What's important is that you learn from your mistakes and try again." She guided Crystal to the receptionist's desk. "Catherine, would you please schedule regular appointments for Miss Sheridan?"

"In a hail of gunfire" Laura furrowed her brow. "In a hail of gunfire

" Shaking her head, she pressed the backspace key repeatedly. "Sounds like something out of a forties gangster movie." Her back was beginning to ache from sitting in the same position so long but the deadline was too close for comfort. "Bullets fell like rain upon no no no no." Sighing heavily, she deleted the sentence and stared at the screen. I hate writing action. Give me a good dialogue scene any day. "The police opened fire, drowning the terrorists with a hail of bullets." Yeah, that works. "Then what?" The cursor tauntingly blinked at her as the seconds passed. "Fine." She began typing. "The police opened fire" Why would they open fire without knowing where the hostages were? She rubbed her face vigorously and blinked with disbelief when she saw the time on the screen. "Grrr." I can't believe it's so late. The pronounced yawn confirmed what her eyes told her. It was closer to morning than midnight and if the page count at the bottom of the screen was telling the truth, she had very little to show for her prolonged effort.

The seconds turned into minutes but no more words appeared on the computer screen. The writer's block that had plagued her for the last several weeks was rearing its head once again. Frustrated, Laura pushed away from the keyboard and leaned her head back, seeing only the ceiling. "All right, let's think about this," she said aloud, as if hearing the words would help bring things into focus. "The hostages are in the subbasement but the police don't know that. So where do the police think they are when the gunmen come out shooting?" Do they even need to be at the warehouse? If they're not there, where do I put them? Do I even need hostages? Why are they robbing the bank in the first place?

"Oooh, I hate this!" Sitting up in her seat, Laura moved herself in front of the keyboard again. The pressure to get the scene done and finish the required chapter on time was doing nothing to help her creativity. All right, just let me think for a minute. To her surprise, the front door closed, announcing Crystal was home from work. She listened as the refrigerator door was opened, then shut again, reminding Laura she meant to speak to her roommate about using the last of the milk and not marking it on the grocery pad. Heavy footed steps ascended the stairs, pausing at the landing.

"I'm awake," she called, wondering what caused Crystal to stop instead of heading straight to her room.

"You're up late." the voice on the other side of the door answered.

"Deadlines will do that to me." She rubbed her eyes and leaned back. "How was work?"

"It was work. Night."

"Night." What's wrong? The defeated tone in Crystal's voice concerned her. Laura opened the blinds and slid the door open, leaving the screen in place. Just in case she wants to talk, the writer told herself.

Several minutes passed and Laura had all but given up when she heard the glass door slide open and Crystal step out. I knew something was wrong. Shutting off the computer, she walked out onto the balcony. The orange glow of the cigarette was the only light in the near pitch darkness on Crystal's side. Goosebumps sprang up Laura's arm as a cool gust of wind blew by. "Brrr, I didn't realize it was so cool out here tonight."

"Uh huh."

"You up for company?"

"I'm not much company tonight," Crystal said dejectedly.

"That's all right, I'm not much either." She pulled out a chair and sat down, groaning as she did so. "I just can't take looking at that screen anymore." "Screen?" The stripper looked at the sliding door. "What's wrong with the screen?"

You think I mean

She forced herself not to smirk at Crystal's confusion. "Not that screen. The computer screen. I'm battling writer's block." "Oh."

Laura watched as the head of the cigarette flared, then dimmed as her roommate took a drag. You weren't kidding about not being in the mood to talk. While debating about trying to strike up conversation again, she was surprised when Crystal spoke.

"Can you go on the internet with that thing?"

"At fifty-six K when everyone in town isn't online," she said proudly.

"Uh huh."

You don't have a clue what I'm talking about, do you? "So yes, you can go on the internet with it. Why, are you in the mood to go surfing?" "Surfing?"

"Searching around, looking at the different sites." Laura mentally chastised herself for not thinking. "Looking for something specific?" "Um, no do you have to pay to use it?"

"I pay a monthly fee and have unlimited access." Well now. It was the first time Crystal had shown an interest in anything she liked. Laura sat up and rested her arms on the table, her eyes adjusting enough to the darkness to see the outline of Crystal's face. Think I'll pick up some table candles next time I go shopping. "You can use it if you want, just don't download anything."

"Naw, I was just curious. I don't know how to use one anyway."

"Well, you have to learn sometime. Why not now?"

"I don't know," Crystal said hesitantly. "It's late and you're probably tired."

"If I go to bed now, I'll grind my teeth all night. Really, I'm wide awake."

"Maybe you could just show me and I could go to the library and use theirs." Crystal stubbed her cigarette out in the ashtray and stood up. "I won't be interfering with your writing or anything, will I?"

"Hardly," Laura snorted. "I'm lucky if I got two paragraphs done tonight." She rose and opened the screen door. "Come on, it'll be fun." Once inside, Laura tugged her foot locker over to the computer desk and sat on it. "Help yourself," she said, gesturing at the chair. "I don't know anything about this," Crystal said as she looked over large monitor, tower and printer. "This is the mouse, right?" "Yeah, it's set for lefties, though. You press the right button to click on something."

"Is it supposed to be on the other side for right handed people?" She gingerly moved the mouse over the smooth surface of the mousepad. Her hazel eyes widened as she watched the pointer on the screen mimic her movements. "I dunno. Seems just as easy to use it on this side."

"It is. It's just how you're taught, I guess. My mom is left handed too and she always made sure to accommodate me in that regard. Let's get online and I'll show you how to search the net." Lifting up slightly, Laura reached between her legs and grabbed the handle of the footlocker and tugged it closer to Crystal's chair. "See that yellow globe near the top of the screen? Click on that."

"So I move the pointer thing up there and click this button?"

"Yes, you have to double-click it." Watching the cursor move drunkenly about the screen, Laura tried hard not to smirk. It took Crystal three clicks to open the program.

"What did I do?" the stripper asked nervously when windows and programs began opening by themselves. This time Laura couldn't contain her mirth.

"Nothing. I have it set to open all the necessary programs when I log in."

"You could have warned me," Crystal said with a non-threatening glare.

"I could have," she admitted. "But it was more fun to watch you jump out of your seat." She reached over and took control of the mouse. "See this button here?" One click and the screen changed. "Okay, type whatever you're looking for in the box." Laura sat back and waited for her roommate to type in the information.

Crystal poked at the keys with her index fingers. "Damn. How do you erase on this thing?"

"Use the backspace key, top right side just below the F12 key."

"Where? I don't see anything marked backspace."

"Oh, the lettering wore off." She leaned over to point out the key. "I use backspace and delete often."

"Make a lot of mistakes?"

"I prefer not to think of it as making mistakes so much as refining," Laura said, feeling more relaxed with her roommate. "Actually I tend to rewrite a scene several times before being satisfied with it."

"Sounds like a lot of work," Crystal said, her eyes darting over the keyboard in search of the proper letter.

"It is," she said, pointing out the location of the N key. "But it's also a great deal of fun."