“What are you doing?” Sarah asked as she walked into my office. “Erm…nothing,” I lied, quickly flicking the screen to the Amazon homepage I had open. I hated lying to her. We’d been married for fifteen years, and I never kept secrets from her. She looked at the screen, frowned, shrugged her shoulders, and walked away. Once I heard her footsteps disappear, I flicked back to my short story, the one where the maid had been c...

“Bye,” shouted Mom as she and Dad left for the airport. The door closed behind them, and the house was silent. I loved my parents, but at twenty I enjoyed having the house to myself, not that I was completely alone. My sister, Emily, who had not long turned eighteen, hadn’t gone with them. We’d already agreed, however, to keep out of each other’s way. Fine with me. “You only want to go in your room and watch porn anyway,”...

Ryan sat looking through his work emails on his laptop in his home office. He’d opened the window to let the soft summer breeze drift in; it was already too hot. Then he heard the patio door from next door slide open. He knew that meant his neighbour, Miss Carter, would be making an appearance. Ryan liked her a lot. It wasn’t just that she was hot for a forty-something—she was hot, period. Not only that, she’d been super...