the engine and the frantic, replaying loop of the last hour in my head. Sarah kneeling. The

-examining the last few months, the last few years, through this new, h

usted, to an empty house. Sarah would call and say she was having a "work dinner" with her colleagues. More often than not, she' d mention Mark was there to

ay early to surprise her. I found a men' s leather jacket slung over the back of ou

ame over to help me fix the leaky faucet under the sink. You kno

ing to help us. She' d made me feel proud. Now, the memory made me sick. I had probably paid for the dinner they had togeth

been taken for granted, it had been used as a tool to facilitate the

s I cut the engine, another car pulled up behind me, it

d towards me, his face etched w

t up," he

aced him, my hands clench

you want

hrough his hair. "I know this is messed up. B

t use your dying father as an excuse for what you did. You

treet flew open, and his aunt, the boisterous one from the party, came

re you! How dare you come here and ruin my brother' s birthday! H

was breathtaking. I was the villain. I was the one at fault f

at you' re talking ab

" she shrieked, her face red with anger. "Sarah

Mark' s house. She ran to the aunt' s side, clutchin

he cried. "It' s my fault. I

around Sarah, glaring at me. "You

his aunt, the ignorant mouthpiece; and Sarah, the maste

cold, humo

d with a chilling certainty. I looked directly at Mark.

in the air. Then I looked at Sara

nd a trip to another continent without batting an eye, who can perform for a room

d to th

' s, that she doesn' t get bored and decide

nd stepped inside, shutting them out of my house and my life. The sound of t