byHope it’s not COVID, Cheryl said to herself—just joking!—as she fought off a coughing spell for the second time in as many minutes. She lowered the car window to let in air and reached for her water bottle. Which, as the light turned green, she remembered was on the kitchen island where she accidentally left it, pissed off that Charlie forgot to take the garbage out as he promised he would on his way into the office. On a Saturday, again, which pissed her off even more.
Hope it’s not COVID, Casting about for relief, she spied Charlie’s jacket, crumpled in the rear seat where he tossed it the night before as they headed into the restaurant, insisting the night was too mild for it after all. His North Face jacket, sure to have cough drops in the pocket. Sorry, his other North Face jacket,
