A Decade Undone by Deceit

g shirts weren' t just a joke; they were a statement. His arm, her smile, the e

ements frantic. "Jaime, stop.

d, full of a desperate need to control the situation, b

me, her touch suddenly repulsive. My v

he part of me that could feel pain for her was gone, carved out by a deca

trembling slightly, the only sign of the storm raging

e to reply. I closed the study door behind me, t

h Jaime, then the front door closing. I fell o

study door creaked open. Kendal slipped i

oice thick with a guilt that felt practiced

d in her arms. I

d, trying to sound cheerful.

y eyes. "It' s

had passed. O

nd the apartment, wore the clothes I liked, suggested we go to a friend' s we

utfits. She held my hand, smiling for the camer

nd said, clapping me on the back. "From high school

squeezing my hand. "I' m planni

a hollow, meani

nce. A wave of whispers r

one she' d supposedly never gotten over. The man whose picture she had used as her phon

im, shining with an intensity I hadn' t seen

n someone offered her a glass of wine, Jaime smoothly intercepted, handing her a glass of orange ju

oration. The same look she had

eating my food, the taste of

for me?" she hissed at me

"Because I just had a cancerous tumor cut out

said n

or the driver, she checked her phon

," she said, not looking at me

in, Kendal?" I asked, my

around me in a fierce, desperate hug. "No, of course not. It

d up. She didn't even hesitate. She jumped in

b, watching the ta

ext time," I whisper

s the l