Monday June 19th, 2023 Lyrou and Garin had been married for 13 years, and they had two children together. Garin toiled invaluably, or was it to her indispensably, from his well-earned corner office in downtown Jersey City. He spent his weekdays, some weeknights, and some weekends gaining and sustaining clientele for a powerhouse corporation one degree from the top. Dapper, lean, active, a touch knightly or chevalier-faced...

Evening Tuesday, July 4th, 2023 Inside and approaching midnight, the TV was muted as a news talk program aired, covering shots of July 4th fireworks. Garin called her, “Lyrou... are you on the balcony still? Come sit with me a moment.” Lyrou walked in with a warm smile, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel and tossing it in a laundry basket sitting by the basement door. She sat down next to Garin, the scent of fireworks fa...

Noon Wednesday, July 5th, 2023 The glass exterior of the building, the cold minimalist plaza entry, and the low hum of office activity weren’t unlike Garin’s office, or the offices she worked in over a decade ago. Lyrou sat in the sleek reception of Barbara Geithner’s law office in downtown Fort Lee, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. Her face was heavy and puffy, and she wore a weary numbness. When the secretary calle...

Noon Friday, July 7th, 2023 Jia. She was the solitary hidden sniper who held up the whole campaign at the beachhead. If she rejected him, Garin would severely doubt himself. He might take it for the hint he needed that in the expanse of time since he won Lyrou, he’d lost it, he no longer appealed to women in that way. It might hurt his ego so badly that he’d fear being rejected again, too much to retry his luck the next d...

Noon Saturday, July 22nd, 2023 There was for Lyrou a day-to-day apart from men and their dicks, her marriage and its problems, her heart and its shattering. There was a now, for her, that needed attending to and keeping up. Like a cetacean surfacing for air after having battled with a giant squid in the cold, dark depths, she returned up to the fresh and depressurized light of women and their topics. Or so that was the id...

Afternoon Friday, August 4th, 2023 Garin and Joseph met at the outdoor range biannually. Garin brought the same bolt-action Springfield he’d ever had, which was an old gift from Joey himself. Joseph was there to try out his new precision chassis. Under the least drizzle and a fickle breeze, Joseph loaded his box magazine, “There is the standard cost of living to income per capita, and if the gap between them isn’t wide en...

Evening Wednesday, August 30th, 2023 Headlights circled, tires burned smoke as souped-up cars spun donuts in the intersection. Paulo had taken Lyrou to a takeover. It wasn’t the sleek beige tank top and high-waisted tailored black shorts, or her momness, or her vertiginous nerves, or her language barrier that made her feel like a tourist. It was Paulo himself; he was so much this scene that he made the cultural ethno-ling...

Evening Tuesday, October 31st, 2023 The house buzzed with chatter, and the clinking of cocktails, spiced pumpkins, and warm cinnamon hit you as you walked in the door. It was Tatiana’s annual adult Halloween bash, and having gotten a pretty signed invitation through the mail slot, Garin and Lyrou had decided to go. Having just arrived and had her coat taken, Lyrou stood alone at the edge of the crowded living room, drifti...

Morning Sunday, December 3rd, 2023 Lyrou waited outside the apartment building in Grantwood, holding her umbrella. Tom arrived, and she jumped in beside him. Her expression was blank, and though she had much to say, she didn’t say it yet. Tom had her texts to go by, but he would let it come out when she was ready. “I’m meeting a kid and his coach about taking him on for training after lunch. You’re welcome to be there.” L...

Afternoon Saturday, February 10th, 2024 Garin and Lyrou walked together through a yellowed and browned park that turned into a biking trail. As their breaths fogged the air, he talked about the news, a politician he saw promise in. “She’s not bought. She can really fix the runaway deficit spending, roll back regulations, and not make the perfect the enemy of the good on infrastructure projects. And she’s a combat veteran...

Afternoon Saturday, February 24th, 2024 Lyrou saw in her refrigerator a gradual invasion of protein powders and supplements. They’d gone from occupying a corner to taking up an entire shelf, and then smaller bottles were materializing in the door. Her eggs were vanishing, also. She went to find Garin in the basement, as had become the norm, working out. He didn’t greet her; he was gasping and sweating his way through a se...

Noon Sunday, April 28th, 2024 Garin and Lyrou sat together for a picnic on a cool but sunny day. Garin offered Lyrou the chicken wrap he’d prepared. She took a bite. “Delicious, chéri,” her voice filled with genuine thankfulness. She set the wrap down and leaned back on her elbows, the soft grass itch-tickling her bare skin. “I’ve been thinking,” she began, her eyes on the clouds above. “Are you OK?” Garin chewed. “Yes, b...

Morning Monday, May 20th, 2024 After making and having breakfast with her family, as her children and husband made their way out the front door, Lyrou leaned over her kitchen counter and texted Joseph via their social media, the same platform that he had spied her photos on over the years. She expected to baffle at first, and she was direct in telling him, “I know you’ve always had a fondness for me.” She thought to herse...

Noon, Saturday, May 25th, 2024 Alone in her kitchen, Lyrou poured the Cabernet Sauvignon and sat at the counter. She looked to some family photos on her refrigerator, held in place by souvenir magnets. Among them were a couple of photos from her wedding to Garin in a Rococo Rouen cathedral, and beside them a third photo of Garin on Omaha Beach, paying homage to his grandfather. But beside the photo of them reading their v...

Afternoon, Monday, June 3rd, 2024 Garin wanted to tell Lyrou all about his time with Contessa. She’d been the most interesting so far; not a work acquaintance, not an ex, not a transaction, but a purely fun and new connection free of history or sediment, no subtext or inertia, no obligations or ledger. But to tell Lyrou anything about Contessa would violate the rule for round four, and so he determined not to say a word....

Noon, Sunday, June 9th, 2024 For Penny’s birthday, Lyrou agreed to bring her and five friends to an indoor water park for a couple of hours before drying off and taking them to a pizza party on a trampoline, dodgeball, traceur course, tug-o-war, and battle-beam facility. Coming out of the locker rooms in their one-piece boylegs and goggles, Penny and the girls did a tip-toe short-step run not to slip, going altogether lik...

Afternoon Sunday, June 16th, 2024 Alone at home while Lyrou ran errands with Penny, and Alan was out skateboarding and bike stunting with friends, Garin found a gift box delivered on his front porch, tucked behind a plant pot to prevent porch pirates, with yellow ribbon and black and gold polka dot wrapping. He picked it up and read the tag: ‘To Garin’. Walking it back to the kitchen counter, he began pulling off the wrap...

Morning Sunday, July 7th, 2024 Garin had pushed their luggage cart through Newark Liberty International departures terminal to the check-in counter and then set them loose with hugs and kisses at the security checkpoint. Almost 9 hours later, on landing, Alan taught Penny how to blow the pressure out of her Eustachian tube with the Valsalva maneuver, and she was relieved with awe that it worked. On the other side, at Char...

Morning Sunday, August 25th, 2024 Garin met Joey at his mom's church for Sunday mass. She was 87 years old but could walk and talk like she was 77. Diagnosed with cancer five times, she'd been "dying from this fifth bout since 2020" and in her words "couldn't give a damn if it did get me, am I supposed to get it five more times. What a bitch it'd be if I beat cancer's ass and I went to the Lord by something dumb like... l...

Afternoon Saturday, October 12th, 2024 Garin and Joseph drove two hours into Pennsylvania to attend a gun and knife show. Joseph was much more talkative and normal this time and came alive in the gun show to get his hands on so many spectacular firearms. Garin thought about it, but not long, how Joseph hadn’t told him a thing about what he’d done with Lyrou in his bedroom. In his mind, he spoke to him: It’s OK, Joseph, bu...

Afternoon Wednesday, January 1st, 2025 Lyrou was driving over 50 mph when she got a text from Paulo. Trying to text-and-drive, she asked where he was, and he sent his location. Without looking, she set it to her destination and followed the navigation app to him, a rest stop or travel plaza on the Garden State Parkway. She entered, finding Paulo at a table, and she sat across from him. He had an eyebrow piercing, and his...

Evening Friday, February 14th, 2025 Lyrou arrived in Reine’s living room with flowers, given the date, and Cognac to take the edge off the pain. Lyrou was upset to see Reine in face bandages, taking care of her toddler. “Ma merde! You’re not in condition for this.” Reine exasperated, bent and prying a phone charging cord from Elena’s small but powerful hand. “I’m by myself here! I can’t let my fille espiègle go set our ho...

Evening Saturday, March 1st, 2025 Lyrou met Tom downtown. She’d texted him first, as with Tom, he never reached out first. Did she miss Tom? She didn’t know, but she wanted to know. After a week of leaving her on unread status, he texted back, “You want to come to my photo exhibition? We can do something”. She texted “oui,” to which he sent the time and the location on the map app. And so… she showed up. She entered as an...

Morning Tuesday, April 1st, 2025 After midnight, Lyrou pretended to leave the bedroom with her novel in hand, as if she were going to read it in the guest room. However, she’d hidden something in there yesterday when she had the house to herself. Having taken care of it, she returned to bed an hour later. A short nap, and then when Garin woke, she lay still as he took to the shower and prepared to leave for work. She hear...

Noon Sunday, April 27th, 2025 Reine and Lyrou met again, but for coffee, taking their drinks and walking to a running track at the nearby community college. Reine wasn’t just angry; she was pissed and perturbed. She was seeing red. “I can’t even begin!” “OK, start at the start.” Lyrou invited Reine to vent. “Philip, he has $292,000 in a secret account he made,” she exclaimed, gritting her teeth, her hands talking more lou...

Morning Thursday May 1st, 2025 Lyrou shouted from bed, "Don’t stay home. At least go in late.” Garin came up the stairs carrying a tray and glass of orange juice. "I’ll go in 24 hours late.” Lyrou patted the comforter down over her lap to make way for the tray as Garin carefully set it; bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy steaming in her face. She took the orange juice from him, the glass cool and wet. “Now you can head in.”...

Morning Monday, May 5th, 2025 High in the sky, Garin was in a crisis meeting with his team. But his mind was on Amina. Not on their long grey conference table awash in papers, poured out and poured through. Two secretaries, Erin and Norma rushed in and out, bringing more files to add to the mess. Mel’s voice rose, sharper than usual. “This is a disastrous… shit… dammit! How could we have missed the signs, Garin? Terry? Ga...

Afternoon Friday, May 9th, 2025 Lyrou met Marc in the subway station, as planned. She saw him first, adjusting his collar in the reflection of an ad. Freezing still, hands on his collar, he spotted her also in the reflection. Turning, he laughed and approached, a fine smile forming at the sight of her in her long white dress, a cut down the side of the right leg from just above the knee to the knot of her ankle in its whi...