ed to

m-as if he were announcing the fridge had broken, n

a

es. Talk about what? A debrief? A review? Was he pro

hing only happens in soap operas written

ried I'd c

was me who

ho dragged him

who opened t

inned him down with

tone I could muster, "last night was a mistake. A reck

is chest. Not at the water droplets sliding do

ibility. I won't call you crying about em

't say

e door-aiming for a graceful exit,

the doorknob, a warm, wet pa

owly, I tur

ssion I couldn't place-somewhere b

member me?" h

lmost defensively: "Of course I do. You're my new

true. Tota

-was that even without those triv

was unfo

in just a white towel, with water dripping down thos

llowe

t look directly at

trategy had co

he was practically naked, somehow, under his gaze

ay something, anythin

there, watching me, as if waiting for the

ence st

"It's fine. Do

nked.

sked dryly. His han

again, then-un

you ma

.

at

ious." I finall

I just returned to the country. My parents want me to get married as soon as possible. In thei

ll s

d I'd bring home som

ve enough to sil

ent an answer-just with

I

houldn't b

through a lovele

lence, hollow intimacy, and a slow

my mouth

moment, my

cut through the q

-and felt like a bomb h

ine V

mot

ine wa

led to announce s

amiliar yet distant-the

y, I said

n't a

l suite, the ringtone st

ecause I needed-desperately-to sever the t

ur phone? Were you trying

ame rapid-fire, lik

tch or kidnapped by some maniac!

aid coldly, hanging up befor

ollapsed into the backseat, like someone br

s get this

one-night stand-w

rage left in my blood-while the old Mira, desperate

ined mess back in thei

didn't welcome anyone who couldn't afford a BMW. No subway stops.

felt like a boxer entering the ring. Shoulders s

the living room, I co

r chair, wearing the same expression he probably

ir and perfectly aligned pearl necklace, smiled the

solemn and brooding, as if waiting for

n the

ne, obv

ng was a gavel an

was a

the de

ct had alread

struc

o long? I called

arms, her tone c

ic," I

aped from a man in a towel,

re?" My tone was

e ans

d, a bandage still

aguely wounded brought me

e," he said slowly, holdi

ar alarm

red a

like a cartoon bear, its plastic face scr

relic was thei

y throat, but

flatly. "That's

diculous little cloc

ust to return an alarm clock. I knew better. This w

e the re

r-invited in only when t

aid, her voice even

Didn't t

d-a tight, poisonous smile you only

ince you and Rhys have broken up, we believe

. Turned around slowly, letting

u want. It's not like you've ev

e sharp, "back when you were still the se

epped

aranoid-accusing Rhys, trying to control him. You didn'

ds were

t in

ss in

is is

ke that clear

u fell for s

ou ended the

fr

my chest-like they'd torn i

l of them-my parent

. So de

they'd rehea

done to d

d I gone

to explode.

en my father

reparing to re

ut finding someone new," he

ady made ar