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the
windows were heavily tinted. She climbed in, the door shutting
behind her.
    Inside the car was quiet and cool, the bright
sun thwarted by tinted glass. The car smelled of lemons. The AC
whirred overhead, offering solace from the heat. The luxury of the
soft tan leather seats felt good to Severine, something she was not
accustomed to.
    She looked at the man seated across from her
and back at her lap.
    He smiled. “Hello Severine.”
    She spoke, barely moving her lips. “Hello
Jeremy.”
    He slid forward on his seat toward her, his
wool trousers making a swooshing noise on the fine leather, and
placed a slim hand on Severine’s bare knee, his long fingers
pressing on the inside edge of the bone.
    “I’m so sorry about Ben.”
    Staring at her lap, unmoving, she replied,
“Thank you.”
    Jeremy, watching her, leaned back, removing
his hand from her leg, and reached for a blue handkerchief tucked
neatly into his breast pocket. He held this out to Severine, who
glanced up and took the smooth silk fabric.
    Jeremy settled back again in his seat,
spreading his arms wide across the seat back.
    “It’s good to see you Severine,” he said. His
hungry eyes looked her up and down.
    Severine, focused on the fine grain of the
seat leather, said nothing. She tucked one small foot up under her
legs, adjusting her ankle then folded her small hands in her lap,
leaving the blue kerchief on the seat. It was cold in the car, the
AC on full blast.
    Jeremy sighed and brought his arms down,
steepling his hands in front of his dark suit jacket. He’d dressed
for her this morning. She’d always liked this suit.
    “There is a man in town. He’ll need to speak
with you about Ben, a formality really. I’ve given him your
number.”
    “OK.” She looked up at Jeremy. “Is that it?”
She started to reach for the door handle, but Jeremy blocked her
hand.
    “No. No, it’s not.” Jeremy pressed his lips
together. He was looking forward to this next bit. “With regards to
Ben…I am not sure if you know and I am sorry to be the one to tell
you - it is a bit awkward, considering.” His hands fluttered in
front of him. He glanced at her piercing blue eyes. He
continued.
    “When an American citizen dies overseas
without a next-of-kin present in country, the Consular Officer
becomes the executor. In this instance, that would be me. So. I’ll
need a key to his apartment, so I may sort out his things.”
    Severine looked up, her face flushed, her
eyes wide.
    “He has next of kin in country,” she
said.
    Jeremy’s face twisted into an ugly mixture of
disdain and doubt. He disliked being contradicted.
    “Who?” he asked. The word, spoken more
forcefully than he’d intended, sounded like an accusation.
    “Me.” She dropped this bomb, knowing full
well the devastation it would cause. Jeremy had not made things
easy for Ben. Nor for her.
    It had been a full three years since she and
Jeremy had met at an art show at the Chinese House, a photography
exhibit that they had discussed for hours; two and a half years
since they began dating seriously; and one year since he’d proposed
to her on the bank of the Mekong River and she had turned him down,
in no uncertain terms, having met Ben at a riverside cafe only days
before.
    Ben had changed everything for her. When
Jeremy found out the reason for her refusal, he’d called her a
whore and they had not spoken since.
    “We married two weeks ago. It was a private
ceremony.” She said, glancing out the window at a passerby who
tried to see in the tinted glass.
    “So, you needn’t trouble yourself about his
things. That’s my role. As his wife. I’ll take care of it.”
Severine stared at Jeremy, unblinking, daring him to question or
belittle her or simply deny her what she needed most. To be left
alone. She held out his unused handkerchief.
    Jeremy closed his mouth, which had fallen
open. His face, for the briefest moment, wore the expression of a
man punched, hard, in the gut. But he was a