Chapter 2

At seven in the morning, sunlight came through the sheer curtains and filled the bedroom.

Claire opened her eyes to an empty space beside her. She reached over, and the sheets were cold. Andrew hadn't come home at all.

Water was running in the bathroom. She sat up, looked at her own calm face in the mirror, and started practicing her smile.

She brought the corners of her mouth up to exactly the right height and held them there. Her eyes had to look soft, with nothing red in them.

She had used eye patches the night before and iced them for another half hour, so there was no swelling at all.

That was good. That was perfect.

The bathroom door opened and Andrew came out with a towel around his waist, hair still dripping. He stopped for half a second when he saw she was awake, then gave her the same easy smile he always did.

"You're up early. Go back to sleep for a while. You'll be running around all day for tonight."

Claire pushed the covers back and crossed the room barefoot to dry his hair for him. She had done it for seven years, and her hands knew the motion without being told.

"I'm not tired. I kept thinking about wearing that dress you got me tonight and I couldn't fall back asleep."

Andrew went stiff for a beat, so briefly that most people would have missed it, then laughed. "You look good in anything."

Claire went into the closet and brought out the suit she had ordered for him. It was charcoal with a fine stripe, cut from the best wool the tailor could source, a surprise she started planning three months back.

"Try it on. I ordered it just for you." Her voice was soft, the same as any other ordinary morning.

Andrew took it, and something complicated crossed his face for a second. He put on the shirt, knotted the tie, and pulled on the jacket last. It fit him exactly and showed off the shape he had kept himself in over the years.

"Perfect fit." He checked himself in the mirror, then turned and pulled Claire in and kissed her forehead. "Thanks, babe. I know you went to a lot of trouble."

Claire let herself rest against him and caught the smell of his body wash, the same one she used. Under it, faint but there, sat a sweet perfume that didn't belong to her.

It had come off Emily.

"As long as you like it." She stepped back out of his arms and went up on her toes to fix his tie. Her fingertips brushed his left ring finger on the way down, as if by accident. There was nothing on it.

Andrew caught where she was looking. "Took it off to wash my face and forgot to put it back on. I'll grab it in a minute."

Claire smiled and nodded, her eyes as warm as they had ever been.

At the breakfast table, she poured his coffee, and her hand happened to shake as she passed it over. The coffee went across his cuff.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry!" She grabbed a napkin and started blotting.

Andrew frowned. "It's fine, I can get it..."

"Let me." Claire held his wrist and ran her fingers lightly along the inside of his forearm. A fresh scratch sat there, scabbed over already and still easy to see.

Andrew yanked his arm back.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

"You said you were working late. Did the office couch wreck your back again?" Claire acted like she had noticed nothing at all, sat back down, and cut into her eggs. "You're always telling me that couch is too soft and it kills you."

Andrew picked up his coffee and drank, his eyes going everywhere but hers. "Yeah, my back's killing me. I should just come home next time."

"Oh, right." He changed the subject like something had only now come to him. "I invited Mr. King tonight. He's our biggest client, so look after him for me, okay?"

Claire nodded. "Of course. Don't worry about it."

She bent her head over her glass of milk and let the rim hide her face. Andrew never saw how cold her eyes had gone.

Breakfast ended looking warm enough from the outside. Andrew pulled on his jacket and changed his shoes by the front door. Claire brought him his briefcase the way she always did.

"See you tonight." He kissed her on the mouth.

"See you tonight." Claire smiled and waved him off.

The second the door shut, the smile went off her face completely.