"I think he's going to ask me to marry him." The voice came from outside the door. Marilyn stopped marking her comments on a contract and looked up as if trying to see would help her understand.

"When do you think it will happen?" said a second.

"I can see him working up to it."

"Don't let him get away with a small ring -- this time."

The voices carried past the door and faded as the pair moved up the corridor. Marilyn sat staring for a long time as the first woman's words reverberate. Her right hand doodled on a yellow legal pad. When she looked down, "marry" was written a dozen times. She tore off the page and crumpled it into the waste basket. She tried to read more of the contract but found it hard going.