Jim Woban stared at the screen of his word processor and tried again to make words appear. Sometimes it was too frustra- ting to bear. A story would begin and take itself through chap- ters of action, romance and mystery, and then leave him aban- doned, suddenly without words or inspiration, only a deadline for his tyrannical editor, Jake, or Arnie, his parasite of an agent!

He caught himself and mentally chastised his thoughts. Both men had been more than fair and helped him through the rough times of his divorce, extending time and money when they would have been more than justified in leaving him in a pool of self- pity and cheap Scotch.

It had only been a few months, seven, to be exact, that he had suddenly found himself single, his net worth dramatically reduced, and his world in a total shambles. Since then, he had sold the house, invested as much of the money as he could (thanks to Arnie's nagging) and moved to this rented room to finish the novel Jake had commissioned at some jeopardy to his own position. His publishing house disliked large advances to lush writers whose past efforts were slightly above mediocre!

In the kitchen below him, he could hear Katie Sorben moving about cooking dinner for her husband and their boarder. Katie and Karl were in their early thirties, but had only been married a few years; both had been married before. Karl was a machinist at a local plant and Katie worked 6 A.M. to Noon at a bakery. They had bought a large house with a large mortgage and found they had to take in a boarder to make ends meet. Their ad had hit the paper two months after Jim's life jumped into the dumper.

Ten years their senior, he lived quietly and tried not to interfere in their daily lives, with the exception of the dinner meal. Lately, Karl had been inviting him to join them watching the Sunday football games and Katie had extended the invitation to other T.V. shows during the week. They were cheerful and po- lite, neither of them prying into his private affairs or pressing their own business on him.

Sometimes he would hear them arguing with one another like any other married couple, but in most cases, life in the Sorben household went along on an even keel. From time to time, he would hear the unmistakable sounds of their lovemaking. Katie, he noted, was a "squealer" and, apparently, Karl gave her something to squeal about.....This bisexual story continues HERE