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He watched his wife cross the street,


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in the red trench coat
she always swore she'd throw out,

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but always retrieved

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from her closet, year after year.

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She was like that about everything.
It was the trait

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that attracted him
when they first met.

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The clothes she wore
again and again,

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the stacks of untouched lipsticks,

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the song...

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that she sang
while cooking dumplings,

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belonged to a life
that felt alien now,

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a life he was planning to quit
between the entrée and dessert.

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It struck him

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how oddly logical it was
to choose this place to leave her.

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This very place,
where he first realized

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that he no longer loved her.

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When she smiled, he nearly shouted

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"I'm leaving you so don't smile!"

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But he merely gave her
a sip of his "kir".

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Another thing that irked him

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was that she never ordered
an appetizer or dessert

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but always ate most of his.

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Worse still,
he always ordered foods she liked.


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"Do I even like profiteroles?"

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he pondered.

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When she started weeping
like he'd never seen before,

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at first he thought

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she knew he was leaving her
for Marie-Christine,

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the hot-blooded air hostess
he'd loved for the past 18 months.

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"This is it," he thought.
"She knows."

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"She's known for ages.
I should have guessed."

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Still weeping, she brought out some papers

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and gave them to him.

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In coldly clinical terms,

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they said
she had terminal leukemia.

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Sorry.

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In a flash, his first purpose
flew from his mind

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and a strange, metallic voice
began telling him,

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You have to rise to this occasion!

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And he did.

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He ordered three servings
of profiteroles to go

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and text-messaged his mistress.

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FORGET ME.
SERGIO

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He tended to his wife
in every way she'd ever wanted,

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hanging pictures around the house,

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taking her to see
her favorite movies in the daytime,

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bargain-hunting with her
although he hated shopping,

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reading Sputnik Sweetheart
out loud to her.

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Every little thing
had a different flavor,

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knowing he'd never be able
to do it for her again.

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By acting like a man in love,

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he became a man in love again.

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When she died in his arms,

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he fell into an emotional coma
and never recovered.

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Even now, many years later,

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his heart always lurches at the sight of a woman in a red trench coat.