God forbid.

But just in case.

Maya had said she’d think about it, and had thought it was love.

Part Three: The Second-Floor Balcony

Inside the apartment, they had started eating.

Maya stood behind the curtain and made herself think, which was the hardest thing she had ever done, and which she managed for one reason: she had spent twelve years in a job where panic was a professional hazard.

You do not scream at a pharmacy counter.