It had been a good day. Leah, who tended toward shyness, had finally managed to work up the nerve to ask her supervisor for a modest raise. “You’re really going to do it?” Mindy, the pool secretary at the next desk asked her. Leah drew a breath and tucked her brown hair behind her ear. She nodded. “Yes, I am.” “You go, girl,” Mindy whispered. Just then, they heard footsteps coming down the tiled floor. ___ The mattress shifted as some weight joined hers on the bed. Even with her eyes closed, she could tell that a deeper darkness had taken up the space above her. The air directly above her face changed and she could feel the warmth of another’s breath. She tried to turn her head. She tried to say, no. She tried to stop him. But she was powerless. Powerless.