RAY ♠️
Maya had set the table properly.
I noticed it the moment I walked in, the good plates, candles lit, a bottle of wine open and breathing on the counter that she had clearly chosen with some care. Maya did this when she wanted to talk about something important. It was one of her patterns, one I had learned over five years of marriage the way you learn the small architecture of a person you live with. Good plates meant a conversation was coming that she had been preparing for.
I should have recognized what kind of conversation immediately. I told myself, walking in, that it might be work, she had been talking about a promotion, about a project she was excited about. I let myself believe that for the length of time it took to hang my coat.
“Hey.” She crossed the kitchen and kissed m
