Gwen was right, about all of it, and deep down Keri knew it.  As painful as it was to hear her words, she was a failure, she did fail herself and worst of all, she failed Maddie.  How could she have let this go on for so long?  It was so easy simply to rely on her assistants to take care of everything, including making sure Maddie was taken care of.  When was the last time Keri even asked about the girl?<br/><br/>But Maddie seemed so happy, so content with this woman there was no denying that.  No longer the little girl that Keri always remembered, but clearly blossoming into a beautiful young woman.  Keri took pride in never being jealous of anyone, but Gwen, something about her aura was intoxicating.  Her confidence, reminding Keri so much of that long lost relationship.  Yet another failure Keri’s that she just could never seem to keep locked away.<br/><br/>“Mellissa, how did you find out about her?”  her voice trailing off as she asks Gwen.  “She was…  special…  to me…  "<br/><br/>Keri’s internal battle was still raging, but she was losing and it was starting to show.  Her shoulders slumping slightly forward, eyes cast downward as she absently started to remove one 5” heel, stepping down, placing her bare foot onto the cold tile floor.  One hand still holding the wall, with just one heel on now, fighting against her own urges to simply give in to her desires.<br/><br/>Blindly stepping down out of the other heel, feeling so small standing barefoot in the large hallway, her 5’2 frame seemingly shrinking with each passing moment.<br/><br/>“I…  I need help with the zipper…”  slowly motioning to the back of her little black dress, the request barely a whisper.