0:00:23.257,0:00:25.748
He watched his wife cross the street,[br]

0:00:26.795,0:00:30.238
in the red trench coat[br]she always swore she'd throw out,

0:00:30.762,0:00:32.754
but always retrieved

0:00:32.768,0:00:34.556
from her closet, year after year.

0:00:35.202,0:00:37.207
She was like that about everything.[br]It was the trait

0:00:37.207,0:00:41.496
that attracted him[br]when they first met.

0:00:42.358,0:00:44.667
The clothes she wore[br]again and again,

0:00:44.791,0:00:47.556
the stacks of untouched lipsticks,

0:00:47.741,0:00:49.043
the song...

0:00:51.674,0:00:54.477
that she sang[br]while cooking dumplings,

0:00:54.924,0:00:57.868
belonged to a life[br]that felt alien now,

0:00:58.207,0:01:02.576
a life he was planning to quit[br]between the entrée and dessert.

0:01:06.885,0:01:08.033
It struck him

0:01:08.110,0:01:11.152
how oddly logical it was[br]to choose this place to leave her.

0:01:12.044,0:01:14.718
This very place,[br]where he first realized

0:01:14.718,0:01:16.594
that he no longer loved her.

0:01:18.271,0:01:20.509
When she smiled, he nearly shouted

0:01:20.509,0:01:23.438
"I'm leaving you so don't smile!"

0:01:23.900,0:01:26.712
But he merely gave her[br]a sip of his "kir".

0:01:27.405,0:01:29.925
Another thing that irked him

0:01:29.925,0:01:32.924
was that she never ordered[br]an appetizer or dessert

0:01:32.924,0:01:35.522
but always ate most of his.

0:01:36.137,0:01:39.757
Worse still,[br]he always ordered foods she liked.[br]

0:01:39.988,0:01:42.838
"Do I even like profiteroles?"

0:01:42.915,0:01:44.866
he pondered.

0:01:48.112,0:01:51.558
When she started weeping[br]like he'd never seen before,

0:01:51.589,0:01:53.951
at first he thought

0:01:53.951,0:01:56.559
she knew he was leaving her[br]for Marie-Christine,

0:01:56.590,0:02:00.206
the hot-blooded air hostess[br]he'd loved for the past 18 months.

0:02:13.099,0:02:15.569
"This is it," he thought.[br]"She knows."

0:02:16.215,0:02:18.705
"She's known for ages.[br]I should have guessed."

0:02:19.475,0:02:22.072
Still weeping, she brought out some papers

0:02:22.349,0:02:24.515
and gave them to him.

0:02:25.992,0:02:28.545
In coldly clinical terms,

0:02:28.992,0:02:32.363
they said[br]she had terminal leukemia.

0:02:34.194,0:02:34.932
Sorry.

0:02:36.808,0:02:39.948
In a flash, his first purpose[br]flew from his mind

0:02:39.979,0:02:43.326
and a strange, metallic voice[br]began telling him,

0:02:43.372,0:02:46.871
You have to rise to this occasion!

0:02:53.627,0:02:55.152
And he did.

0:02:55.876,0:02:59.023
He ordered three servings[br]of profiteroles to go

0:03:01.393,0:03:04.722
and text-messaged his mistress.

0:03:08.708,0:03:10.131
FORGET ME.[br]SERGIO

0:03:10.131,0:03:13.440
He tended to his wife[br]in every way she'd ever wanted,

0:03:14.025,0:03:16.794
hanging pictures around the house,

0:03:17.425,0:03:21.102
taking her to see[br]her favorite movies in the daytime,

0:03:22.826,0:03:25.488
bargain-hunting with her[br]although he hated shopping,

0:03:26.303,0:03:29.422
reading Sputnik Sweetheart[br]out loud to her.

0:03:29.652,0:03:32.976
Every little thing[br]had a different flavor,

0:03:32.976,0:03:36.881
knowing he'd never be able[br]to do it for her again.

0:04:05.899,0:04:09.061
By acting like a man in love,

0:04:09.061,0:04:11.173
he became a man in love again.

0:04:29.451,0:04:31.281
When she died in his arms,

0:04:31.281,0:04:35.266
he fell into an emotional coma[br]and never recovered.

0:05:03.068,0:05:05.313
Even now, many years later,

0:05:06.006,0:05:10.067
his heart always lurches at the sight of a woman in a red trench coat.