She looked close to tears. "I don’t know, Laura. I’ve tried everything. I’ve tried men in the company, men outside, and it’s just no luck at all. I mean, either they want to own you and be the center of the universe, or they want to treat you like some bed-and-breakfast service and expose you to Christ knows what kind of disease. And it’s been worse since I’ve been on the Committee. Rizome men are a lost cause now. They tiptoe around me like I was a goddamn land mine."