cross from Mr. Hen

just the hum of the ci

y on the polished

h Hayes," Ethan sai

them forwa

bout this for mo

a cold, hard thin

n picked up

careful words an

. Miller," the lawyer b

ivorce, both parties need to conse

agreement to work out, divis

tested, it t

n no

nsent easily, not if she

wouldn't even

as the

deter

l hurdles did

staying married

tand," Et

ross tha

I need the

ing to P

a new jo

told Sarah about Portland,

alked into the lobby of

on about her parents' upcoming anniversary di

before sh

lass entrance, animated,

k V

in Chicago, successful, and

r head back, her eyes brigh

ody leaned

iar coldness sprea

im that way anymore,

pproach

ar

g for a microsecond before it

Eth

H

move away

started, holding up his phone wh

to book s

t his phone, th

ig

ick one

you thin

a dismis

ook at the names

more likely, she just di

nother s

iable husband who h

een observing Ethan with a cool,

dence of a man used to

aid, his voice smooth, c

pening tonight, the

an extra

uld come

citement chasing away the profe

k, I'd l

nting to see

kyrocketed

n, they

ed at Ethan, a bri

ut as if Ethan were a junior colleague o

Sarah interjected, her vo

his is

me with.

tured v

y sounds am

t ti

er with

my hu

than M

t E

he

landed l

st bit of warmth

so quick to diminish his own prese

e phone still in his hand,

Sarah, truly

ing logistics for the evening, her earlier c

notice his silen

e to her when M

is briefcase, hidden from her sight

was

firmed e

eir wedding day,

ceremony, mostly for le

there, and David,

n, a part of her seemed distant, her e

e found

tly after Mark Vance had left Chicago fo

o, that she'd married Ethan for stability, for a s

had

otion, would eventually win her o

been

ver truly

ense, but Sarah had hidden her true heart, her true motiva

le of a wife, but he

ced architectural drawing in their sh

x at the back of her closet,

m, not of

s of

Mark at a beach

s of

social media, Mark look

rine to her lost

a physical blow, steali

d been tending to this

flicker of hope h

ttentive, had suggest

ybe, finally, sh

ce an alarm she'd forgotten, and a mess

calling me b

the co

vor

r a new

rk! I can't believe it! We h

o you g

tantly, replaced by a

ng, single, and

her was just an illusion before th

called the lawyer

king for jobs out of state, fa

week, the f

for aspirin in the

expensive perfume, he

iti

rt had

n't been

lmost nothing over the past year, especia

et calls, her sudden late nights "with colleagu

straction, her joy

ba

plication, the one she wa

in her fantasy of a rekindled romance with another man

just negle

fferent level

t confro

as the

k, the positive result burning into

as d