The closet held a row of empty hangers.

Michael met Michelle at the grocery store when they both reached for the same box of Lucky Charms. He let her have the box, and noticed as she walked away how her skirt swayed with

her hips, and her tan thighs.

 

The perfume lingered in the closet.

After six months of dating, Michelle and Michael moved in together in a small apartment near the college Michelle attended.

 

The dresser’s top was empty of jewelry and perfume.

On their second anniversary, Michael proposed during a candlelight dinner he’d cooked.

 

The drawers of the dresser had been cleaned out.

Michael met Sophia at an office party celebrating his landing of a new marketing client. At first she reminded him of Michelle, but soon he realized the distinct difference.

 

The stripped bed set next to the dresser.

The first time Michael met Sophia at the hotel, the sex was exciting, invigorating; something his marriage lacked.

 

The button-up shirt lay on the stripped bed.

Over time, being with Sophia was just as comfortable to him as being with Michelle. He didn’t distinguish the two. The excitement was gone, but the sex was still good, like the sex with Michelle. Now both familiar, Michael wondered if something else was missing.

 

The lipstick stained the collar.

Michael met Megan at a local bar. She was new and exciting.  She was more open than Sophia. Sex was amazing. Michael never worried.

 

The closet held a row of empty hangers.

The perfume lingered in the closet.

The dresser’s top was empty of jewelry and perfume.

The drawers of the dresser had been cleaned out.

The stripped bed set next to the dresser.

The button up shirt lay on the stripped bed.

The lipstick stained the collar.

The color wasn’t hers.

 

by Angela Spires

Her work has been published in The Brushfire, The Stethoscope, Wildflower Magazine, Mat Black Online Magazine, and Deep South Magazine.

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