THE STAIRS SEEMED PREFERABLE to taking the elevator one floor down. I trudged down to my floor and passed my door to walk the few steps to the window at the end of the hallway.

The corner across the street was smeared with blood, but no one seemed to notice. The people who walked by had no idea about the violence that had occurred, not even an hour before, in the space they were passing through.

A couple stopped just a few feet from the largest stain, arguing. The woman looked both ways and then crossed the street, and I recognized her just before she slipped beneath the awning of our lobby. Marks followed her, and I sighed, knowing they would both be stepping off the elevator minutes later.

I went to my door and unlocked it, and then I waited in the open doorway. The elevator chimed, and the doors revealed my friend looking angrier than I’d ever seen her.

She stepped out and then stopped abruptly, elbowing Marks when he ran into her. “Are you leaving?” she asked me.

“No. Just getting home.” I held the door open. “Come in.”

She passed by, and then Marks paused, waiting for my permission. I nodded, and he followed her to the couch.

I shut the door and turned, crossing my arms. “I am not in the mood to Dr. Phil you two. I can’t figure out my own shit.” I raked my hair away from my face, and then I walked over to the chair, scooping up the folded throw and holding it in my lap as I sat down.

“You agree with me, don’t you, Liis?” Marks asked. “She needs to kick him out.”

“He won’t leave,” Val said, exasperated.

“Then, I’ll make him leave,” Marks growled.

I rolled my eyes. “C’mon, Marks. You know the law. He is her husband. If the cops came, you would be the one asked to leave.”

Marks’s jaw worked beneath the skin, and then he looked beyond my kitchen. “You have a second bedroom. You’ve invited her.”

“She doesn’t want to lose her condo,” I said.

Val’s eyes widened. “That’s what I’ve told him.”

“I don’t want you living with him! It’s fucking weird!” Marks said.

“Joel, I’m handling this,” Val said. “If you don’t want to stick around, I understand.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Why are you two here?”

Marks sighed. “I came to pick her up for dinner. He made a big deal. Usually, I wait for her outside, but I thought I’d be a fucking gentleman for once. He made a scene. Who’s she pissed at? Me.”

“Why do we do this to ourselves?” I asked, mostly to myself. “We’re grown adults. Love makes us so stupid.”

“He doesn’t love me,” Val said.

“Yes, I do,” Marks said, looking at her.

She slowly turned to him. “You do?”