The Girl has just returned from New Orleans, The Crescent City, The Big Easy....She enjoyed herself. She and The Boy went there to celebrate their first year of marriage. It has been a good year and, hormonal imbalances aside, The Girl is happy.

She loves going out of town with The Boy. And not for the reasons you would imagine. One city is, give or take a little, just like any other city to Her. She loves going out of town with The Boy, because He is transformed when He is out of town. The further away from home He gets, the lighter He becomes. As if He were escaping the gravity of Planet Worry. Blast off from Cape Couch and circle the distant moons of San Francisco or New York or New Orleans...But sadly They must always return, jettisoning their happiness in the atmosphere of looming Mondays.

But New Orleans was fun while it lasted.

They ate at Brennan's (the inventors of Bananas Foster.) Brennan's waiters are professional waiters. Waiting tables is not what they are doing until they can do something else. It shows. The Girl loved their elegance and timing and charm and efficiency. They appear out of no where do exactly what needs to be done and then disappear again. They wear tuxedos.

The Boy and The Girl also ate at Dickie Brennan's Bourbon Seafood (owned by the younger Brennan.) The Girl wore her smallest dress to dinner. A pale orange halter dress, it was little girl sherbert-y sweet and full-blown woman sexy. Vunerable and delicious, She tottered around in astoundingly high heels. The humidity left her no choice but to wear her hair curly and wild. A plastic orange bracelet encircled her wrist. She wore Watermelon flavored Lip Smackers and nothing else-at all. This added up to something no boy can look away from, someone who appears to be both a virgin and a whore. For the first time in a long time she felt beautiful. Boys turned to watch her walk by. The Boy mentioned this. She asked if he was bothered by it. No, he liked it. When they sat down at dinner, heads turned. She even caught one of the chefs staring from the kitchen. She laughed and waved. He smiled and sheepishly waved back. A long time ago She had forgotten that She was pretty and therefore ceased to be. That night she remembered.