Close Call Bianca went on home; she didn't stay for dinner. Kitty's mother-in-law left them half a liter of orange soda in the chiller and a container full of roast chicken. Kitty, later on, served the chicken for dinner. Ken came home around five that night; they ate together.  At dinner, Ken couldn't speak. Kitty could tell that he was tired, but whenever she'd talk, he just nodded. Kenneth looked okay, his clothes were OK too, but the expression on his face expressed something else. There was a hint of redness in his eyes. "Did he cry? No. Did he catch sore eyes, or did he rub his eyes too much?" Kitty thought inwardly. Something might have happened at work. Kitty didn't want to bother asking. As Ken's wife, he should be the one opening it up to her. She knew Ken would open up eventually, so she let it slide. Kitty didn't want to intrude, so she stayed quiet. Even after dinner and they were about to sleep, Ken said no

Rash Decisions "Now that bonehead is thoroughly stroked, on to phase two." They sat silently for a few minutes, normalizing their breathing. Mrs. Cameron was the first to move. She cupped her breasts and bent down to look for her scattered clothes. Leah could see John finish drinking the few sips in his water bottle on her peripherals and leave it on a door-mounted cupholder in the backseat. She smiled to herself and continued to change. John followed after her. When they were fully dressed, John began detaching the suctioned window shades while Leah sprayed pine-scented Lysol on the seats. After that, the two returned to the chairs in front. It was as if nothing had happened. Leah made a u-turn around the convenience store to the filling station in front of it. Both parties were silent; Leah discreetly watched John in her peripherals while she shut off the air conditioning and rolled down her window to light a menthol cig. He was in search of something. His gaze was elsewhere out

Hesitant Dive Kitty opened her eyes. It was morning again. The day started like the ones that came before; Kenneth left for work, and she did hours later. Absentmindedly she made her way through the day being somewhere else. Kitty was aware of what her body was doing but not her mind. In this state, she fixed the house and cleaned herself before heading for the grocery store. The day went faster than she would admit. At the store, Kitty was aisle stocking canned pineapples and mixed fruit with a teenage part-timer. The pair were in two different worlds; the boy seemed preoccupied whistling the songs playing on his AirPods, and she once again found herself thinking about Leah at work. Since the random episodes with her befriended blackmailer, Leah, the time after their parting seemed dull. She felt a growing empathy for the older lady, knowing her unhappiness made her resort to infidelity. "Maybe Leah felt the same dullness before her rendezvous," Kitty thought. Given the changes

Party Favors Kitty was alone that evening. As soon as she got back from Leah's, Ken texted her. Kitty already anticipated it to be about working overtime. At six, his message came in a little earlier than his usual "I'm headed home" on her notification bar. Usually, she would order takeout Chinese food and watch a raunchy romance movie in front of the couch, but she didn't feel like it today. Her head and body were working separately tonight. Instead, Katherine's hands used the extra pasta sauce in the chill tray and made herself some mac and cheese. "It would help if you were charming." Her head was thinking about the afternoon. Kitty's ideologies and her friendship with Leah were opposing. Even if she told herself that she was self-aware of what happened earlier, Kitty couldn't bring herself to open up. She couldn't tell a soul about the afternoon with a man that wasn't her husband, not even to that man's sister. "Those green eyes," she muttered to herself. Kitty nearly jumped

The Reasons Ding~ The automated bell chimed in the metallic elevator box, and the steel doors opened right after. Keanu dropped the call. He knew well enough to behave while still on the clock. Hopefully, Mrs. Lewis’s number is filed in a throw-away sim if things don’t go according to plan. The phone still on hand, CEO West walked to Sec. Lee’s desk. A warm empty mug sat beside a cleared desk. The blond woman had word docs open on her screen, typing away her boss’s schedule for the next day. The day would have been longer if she had been alone. Luckily tasks were divided, leaving her to take care of half the paperwork. Ms. Lee had her day sorted out. All that remained was the CEO’s schedule. The said schedule has almost ready for printing. When Dina glanced up, she found CEO West walking toward her station. He stopped right in front of her. Dina saved the docs before turning to face him. Based on the time on her screen, the meeting didn’t go so well. If it did, Mr. West wouldn’t b