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...