“Password:”  The cursor blinked steadily, expectantly, patiently.  Paula stared back at it, wondering what it might be.  She had, she knew, only a few guesses — three or four at most —before she was locked out forever, and Steven would have taken these last secrets to the grave with him. Blink, blink, blink.  She glared…

Your colleagues, coworkers, clients, don’t see it. Out for a walk at lunchtime, passersby ignore —in that midtown New York, we’re-too-busy-to-notice-anything way — the woman in the evening dress, tailored jacket over it to make it more business-appropriate. After work, the jacket comes off. People notice. They can’t help themselves; nobody could. It’s a dress that says…

He woke early, before the city, and sat with his coffee in the kitchen.  Soon the rumble and bustle of the streets would penetrate even here, but for now this was his time.  Today, more than usual, he thought about his lost loves while the water boiled, while he ground the beans, while he waited…