Bertie awoke to the smell of fresh coffee. Ignoring the early hour and his own internal screaming to stay in bed, he pushed the covers aside and followed the sweet smell wafting out of the apartment kitchen. He was surprised to find Rachel there, in the dim light from the coffeemaker - still in the clothes she’d worn yesterday, her eyes sunken and lined. She jumped a bit in her chair when she saw him coming, having clearl...

Rachel, please see me in the studio. H. Rachel felt a chill that had nothing to do with the cold inside the radio station garage. She didn’t have to the check the number to see that the message had come from Mr. Hardecker, the station manager. But why would be texting her when she was supposed to be leaving with the street team? She waved to Stephen, the husky Baltic kid trying to start up the broadcasting van. “Sorry, th...

In the dream, he stood in a house. Not an apartment as he lived in now, a man of thirty-five, but a house like the one in which he’d grown up. The floor strong hardwood that creaked in the night as if haunted, doors and stairways going up and down so many ways that a boy could get lost, and a great roaring fireplace in the den for the family to gather for Christmas eve. It struck him as too large – surely the ceilings had...

It was a cold winter night, but the old house was warm with songs she couldn’t understand, drinks that she could barely stomach, and smoke that made her eyes sting. In short, Rachel was probably too old for this shit. But when her fellow street team members had heard that it was her birthday, they’d spared no time organizing a party for her, and she didn’t see any way of backing out. The kids – and yes, they were in their...

The pain was beyond intense, concentrated as it was on that tiny and most sensitive part of his body. “Would you like to reconsider your question?” asked the skinny redhead. When his answer was not forthcoming, her fingertips drew tighter. “Yes! I’m sorry I asked.” “You should be.” Sherrie let go of Bertie’s earlobe and returned to her place behind the register. The only other two customers in her store quickly found some...

Rachel had worked her new job at the radio station for just over five weeks, the last she’d checked. She’d wanted to be assigned to the Programming department, where she understood the station’s music list was chosen and where she could hopefully submit some of her own work. But not only was she misinformed as to what to expect, the station manager took her ignorance – and her poor behaviour in light of her ignorance – as...

The Lady Elmira was going to have to retire her bustier. It was one of her favourite pieces – a birthday gift from her husband, back when they were younger and more vigorous. She hadn’t gotten much wear from it since, but she’d hoped it might get some new life in her ‘second career’. But looking down, all she could see were the stretch marks that pitted her bare stomach. Three kids had taken their toll. And even if they h...

I’m a Wife Guy, okay? Let’s get that out of the way. I started working mall security over the summer – just a little something to keep the bills paid until classes start back up. It’s not what I would call a challenging job, basically standing about in my cut-off sleeves and padded vest (Bulletproof, you ask? Ha!) and give folks the eye coming in and out of the glass doors. Being naturally blessed as a stocky fellow, I’d...

Rachel chewed absently at her salad. As much as the sweetness of the raspberry vinaigrette usually filled her mouth, it might as well have been dust from under the couch for all the taste she could draw from it. “Are you enjoying your dinner?” “It’s fine, honey.” She swallowed, remembering her next line, “Have you seen my phone? I haven’t been able to find it since I got home.” “Not in your purse, is it?” Bertie reached o...

Rachel was surprised by the call down to the mailroom. Typically when she’d ordered a package, she’d have been prepared for its arrival by at least three days of e-mail updates. It was bizarre for one to appear without notice. There was no international label, so it had to be local – very local, given that there was no return address either, just her name and the address she shared with Bertie. The size and shape of it su...

“The truth is… little girls grow up. It’s what they’re supposed to do.” Mika had practiced that line in the mirror before she’d come over. She’d said it over and over until she meant it, until it seemed right. Rational. Inevitable. In three weeks, she would (belatedly) achieve her degree. From there it would be straight back to her hometown and a job opportunity that her father had arranged back when she began her studies...

Mika never came by on Fridays. There had always been something else going on – late classes, gym workouts, Girl’s Nights, pool at the student union – but he’d come to accept that he would spend his Friday nights by himself. He justified it as a trade-off for continuing to date a woman over forty years his junior. So when Jeff saw her step out of the rideshare car at the edge of his lawn, he was shocked. She’d texted him e...

Somehow, he’d expected… more. Bertie supposed it had been a pretty good day, on the whole. He’d had the day free from work, and had been able to spend the morning cleaning house – his girlfriend Rachel had even helped with the dusting, which was more than he’d come to expect from her in the seven years they’d lived together. When the hottest part of the day had passed, they’d walked down to the Botanical Gardens together,...

Rachel lay stretched in the lounger by the pool, a drop of sweat beading on her forehead. She felt it swell, begin to dribble, and then dissolve into steam before even touching the bridge of her nose. It was hot, no doubt, but it was still better out here than in the apartment. It had become a cycle in the time they’d lived here. The apartment complex was old, with no central air, so each year after the first summer heat...

NOW The aphorism that “you never forget your first” was one that had always bothered Bertie. For one, which ‘first’ was it referring to? His first crush would have been on a classmate in grade school, but which classmate or even which year had been lost to his memory. His first kiss was a dare in junior high. The kid who dared him was named Ken Jakes, but the girl in question? He couldn’t remember her, either. Even the de...