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wore bowties and wigs and hung down in front of the doors. Security staff didn’t mind having to stay. It was always easier to secure a building when no one was inside, and most of the time they watched TV and cracked a few jokes among themselves. Erin Moore provided a lunch of pasta, salad, water and soda for all employees who were left working in the building to keep their spirits up while on duty.
    When the funeral was over, guests were invited to share hors d’oeuvres in the courtyard behind the basilica. On a table covered in white linen was caviar, foie gras, crackers, brie, goat cheese, raw oysters, steamed dumplings, Swedish meatballs wrapped in duck bacon, arugula salad, beef and tuna tartar with quail egg on top. The guests’ tables were also covered in white linen with flowers and wine on top. Jiang’s mother did not say a word. She just smiled and nodded as the guests came and went. The father walked around shaking hands with guests. Katherine tucked herself away in a corner and scanned the crowd from behind her veil. Occasionally, guests would stop by to offer condolences, but most recognized that she had intentionally secluded herself. She quietly watched.
    Directly after the ceremony, Jennifer Martin took a taxi back to her apartment. Being the mistress of a top executive was exciting until something important happened and you have to take a back seat. Reality set in. She saw his family, but never met them. She didn’t know much about any of them, yet Katherine was being embraced by Alan’s loved ones. It was a lonely journey and she knew it had been a bold move on her part to even bother showing up. She had no one to share her grief with. Her heart was broken and no one really understood what she was going through. No one has sympathy for a mistress in distress.
    During the taxi ride, she looked out the window and reminisced about the fun times with Alan and their many sneaky getaways. She remembered their trip to Montego Bay when Alan slipped and fractured his ankle on the water falls. He told his wife it was an accident that happened while on the company ski trip. She remembered the trip to Paris and dinner at the Eiffel Tower. She thought it was the perfect moment for him to confess his love and promise to leave his wife for her, but instead he gave her a pair of two carat diamond earrings. She smiled and accepted the gift as a reminder of how insignificant she was in Alan’s deck of playing cards.
    After about 20 minutes in the cab, Jennifer arrived at her apartment building. She went up the stairs after checking to see if there was any mail for her. Slowly she took one step at a time, feeling weak and tired from the long day of mourning. She entered her apartment, kicked off her shoes and sat on the couch. She wept for a few seconds and shook her head, thinking about Alan. Her phone rang. It was her friend, Missy.
    “Hey, Missy.” Jennifer was happy she had called.
    “Jen, are you ok?” Missy was concerned. She hadn’t heard from Jen in a few days.
    “As good as I can be right about now. Sorry I haven’t answered your calls and texts. I just needed some time to think about things.”
    “Have you talked to anyone?”
    “I can’t really talk about everything with anyone. It would be a major scandal that I can’t deal with right now. I saw his wife there. She knows about me, but I didn’t think she would recognize me. She looked at me like she knew exactly who I was.”
    “Oh boy. I wouldn’t be surprised if she did know. I don’t think you should be alone. I’m gonna come by in an hour. We can talk about everything then. Talking over the phone probably isn’t a great idea. So, I’ll be there soon.”
    “You really don’t have to. I’ll be okay.”
    “Listen, I know you will be okay, but you need company and a few glasses of wine. We can get drunk and cry together.” Missy laughed. “I’m gonna swing by. Be there in an hour or less.”
    “Thanks Missy. I really appreciate