"Ah, Lexie! Good to see ya. What's up, Amiga?"

She said, "O M G, Steve! You are friggin' tanned."

I looked down at myself. Bare-footed and shorts, still in holiday mode. I said, "Right, kinda' outta place here. But three weeks in the sun, riding the swell, that'll do it."

She said, with an enigmatic cheeky grin, "Ooh, stop it, you're making me... envious."

I said, "Yep, it was pure bliss."

She handed me a newspaper, said, "Anyway, I knew you were back today so I saved yesterday's paper in case you wanted to catch up."

"Lexie. That is so thoughtful." I thought for a moment, and then added, "Hey, listen. I'm having a cocktail and then cooking up some fish and veggies. You wanna join me?"

Lexie did join me. We had cocktails and supper and fun conversation. And cocktails. Much later, we shared a spliff for dessert. And...