xia

edge of the city, a place that smelled permanently

ripped a steady, maddening rhyt

ded by boxes. My bank account was pitiful, a

ry. I thought marriage was a partn

strong, capable. The right one was a st

ee days befo

ammered o

ide, turning the streetlights into

o the bone. He held a bouquet of w

n a cinema masterpiece, except I k

k thin,"

ace as he always did. He looked around the tiny r

is ridiculou

lowers. He put them on the wobbly table

s flying. "Look, I know you're upset about the necklace. I'll g

out the neck

ve sandalwood cologne I used to buy for him. He rea

safe I used to feel in his arms. I remembered the nights we stood on the balc

I th

r to executive. "The new AI music division. I want you to run it. You'll

ack, breaki

her's memorial. You told me we didn't have space in

as different. She neede

" I said, flexing the stif

ening slightly. "I'm offering you a career. Don't

ey were already wilting in the

on't need you," I said, my voice steady.

ill tone cut through th

he screen. His

. "She... she's crying. S

e. Then he loo

" I

y. "She has panic attacks. Since the acci

bother,

rd his car engine roar to

es. I walked to the windo

hem into th

to the empty, rain-slicked st