I am Baaack! Part 1

Lou and Ed had gushed over her, couldn't praise her enough, and she basked in it. She returned the compliments as the two ladies were no slouches themselves. (Real time Rose knew that they had immediately upped the price they were going to ask for her by several hundred thousand.) They told Rose they would reveal the surprise after dinner, and they went in to eat.

The first surprise was when they saw Dr. Adkins seated at the bar, as dressed to the nines as they were. She had her cell phone to her ear. When she saw the three, she waved, snapped the phone shut and, replacing it in her purse, came over to join them. She made a fuss over how beautiful Rose looked and asked who she was. Rose giggled, but Ross wanted to run and hide when Ed let the cat out of the bag, stage whispering to her, "Why, Joan, don't you recognize our friend Ross, the one you treated for breast growth - only she's Rose tonight?"

As Ross gasped and turned to run, Joan put her hand on her arm and immediately put her at ease, putting Rose back in charge. "Ross? No, no. I don't see Ross at all; you could never be a Ross. Who are you, really? You're lovely! Your friends are just putting me on, right?"

Rose could not stay mad at Ed, nor stay panicky, and she began to feel good about the compliment. Shyly, she said, "They're right, Dr. Adkins."

"Call me Joan."

"They're right, Joan, underneath all this I AM Ross, but I certainly don't feel like Ross tonight. Tonight, please call me Rose."

Joan smiled and shook her head. "My, my, my. Well, Rose it is, then, and a very lovely Rose, at that." She linked her arm with Rose's and began heading to the dining room. She spoke over her shoulder to Lou and Ed, "Shame on you two. Not telling me about this lovely creature, and then trying to embarrass her." Ed got an appropriate hangdog look on her face. "Well, that was my colleague that I was supposed to have dinner with on the phone. Her little girl is sick, and she can't make it. So, I am officially joining you three for dinner. Right, Rose?"