Games and Rituals

Mia was even mildly famous at her gallery for being the inventor of a walkie-talkie system (back in the nineties) that allowed the staff to stand discreetly in the corners of the showroom but still update each other on the movements of certain painters: “He has a drink in each hand … He’s swaying back and forth … He just called Claudia Wolfe ‘infan

It broke Colette’s heart when she saw some elderly person shuffle out to take their test and knew that person had once been lithe and slender, brimming with intelligence and verve. And she knew that the old people still thought of themselves that way. They had no idea the younger, more capable versions of themselves had decamped decades ago. It was

Lindy said nothing. She turned Rob’s sentences over in her mind, examining them one by one for truthfulness like a woman picking up grapefruit at the supermarket and checking each one for signs of softness and rot. She rejected all of them but the last. She guessed that was true. Rob probably hadn’t actually meant to go so far.

Sometimes Colette thinks that Vic becoming a driving examiner had been like an artist picking up a paintbrush for the first time: that rush of exhilaration that comes from finding your calling. As a driving examiner, Vic can intimidate people full-time—and in the privacy of their cars. He breaks people down and enjoys doing it, like a professional

Always when Marlee looked at him, his dark eyes were looking back at her, and she knew they were thinking exactly the same thing. She was certain that they would meet later to talk about it and that certainty made her pupils dilate and her breath quicken. (There is no aphrodisiac even half as powerful as talking shit about someone.)

In twenty years, Joel has never been able to figure out why Fawn had liked him when she was overweight and awkward, and why she dislikes him now that she’s slender and pretty. He doesn’t seem to understand everyone has standards—some people just hardly ever get to apply theirs.

He winks at Colette. The wink doesn’t cause her heart to leap with hope anymore. She thinks that must be a good sign.

Alejandro was there on Friday, same as always, friendly and smiling. But by then Colette understood that the previous day had been a buffer, a cooling-off period, a time to let her hopes diminish. Perhaps it had been a kindness; Alejandro had not seen the silk shirt, or the dangly earrings, or her eager face. Her fever had broken; she no longer glo

YOU GRAB YOUR CAR KEYS and storm out of the house, but once you get in your car, you’re at a loss as to where to go. You’re still wearing your pajamas so your options are pretty limited. In the end, you just sit steaming with anger in your car, the radio turned all the way up. This is exactly what you did after fighting with your father when you we