ed to

like he was announcing the fridge had broken, not

a

about what? A debrief? A review? Or was he propo

y happens in soap operas written by

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 rec

chest. Not at the water droplets sliding down his

ibility. I won't call you crying about em

't say

o the door-cue graceful exit,

the doorknob, a warm, wet pa

lowly turn

ession I couldn't place-somewhere

member me?" h

defensive: "Of course I do. You're my new neig

true. Tota

-was that even without those triv

was unfo

f me in just a white towel, with water dripping down t

llowe

t look directly at

trategy had co

nd he was practically naked, somehow under his

something, anything t

re, watching me, as if waiting for the mom

ence st

"It's fine. Do

nked.

d, my voice dry. His h

again, then-un

you ma

T

ious." I finall

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

ll s

e I'd bring home som

ve enough to shu

delivered an answer-just w

I

houldn't b

through a love-les

silence, intimacy that felt hollow, and

my mouth

moment, my

sliced through the

-and felt like a bomb h

ine V

mot

ine wa

to announce the beg

amiliar yet foreign-the

y, I said

n't a

l suite, the ringtone st

e I needed-desperately-to sever this umbilical

our phone? Were you tryi

came rapid-fire, l

tch or kidnapped by some maniac!

d coldly, and hung up before s

ollapsed into the backseat, like someone br

s get this

one-night stand-w

ft in my bloodstream-while the old Mira, desperate for lov

ttered mess back in the

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

like a boxer walking into the ring. Shoulders squar

nto the living room, I

r chair, wearing the same expression he probably

air 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

ed from a man in a towel, the

re?" My tone was

e ans

od, bandage still

y wounded brought me the tinies

e," he said slowly, holdi

ar alarm

red a

like a cartoon bear, its plastic face scr

relic was thei

my throat, but I

d flatly. "That

culous little clock

st to return a damn alarm clock. I knew better. This

e the re

r-invited in only when t

aid, her voice even

Didn't t

at tight, poisonous kind of smile you o

ince you and Rhys have broken up, we believe

. Turned around slowly, letting

you want. Not like you've eve

g sharp, "back when you were still the s

epped

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

ds were

light i

ss in

is is

ke that clear

u fell for s

ou ended the

fr

hest-like they'd ripped it

ll of them-my paren

. So ca

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