He opened his mouth and nothing came out of it, and in the silence I stood up from the sofa, because some things have to be said standing, and I faced him.

For two years, I said, I watched your family pick the most expensive thing on every menu the second they knew the check was mine.

I watched your sister-in-law make a joke of my income to my face, at the door, before we’d even sat down, and I watched everyone laugh, and I watched you laugh too.

I watched your brothers order wine they couldn’t pronounce and leave half of it in the bottle.

And I watched you, Derek, sit at that table beside me and smile and tell me it was easier this way, year after year, until you weren’t embarrassed anymore, until my paying for your whole family had become a thing you were proud of, a generosity you got to take credit for because it came out of my account.