“Aaarrgghhh!” I threw the cup back into the car. “I knew she couldn’t stop with the caffeine.”

“It’s not a big deal, Ruth.”

“The National Institutes of Health would disagree with you, Hal.” We stood there thinking about Starbucks.

“How do you even know it’s her coffee cup?” asked Hal.

“Who else’s would it be?” I leaned into the car and pulled up the floor mat. No keys.

“Didn’t she have a boyfriend?” asked Hal.

“How would you know that?” I stood up straight to see Hal’s face.

“You told me. You said she broke up with her high school sweet-heart.” He shrugged.

“Okay, well, true. But they broke up a while ago, before she was even inseminated. Anyway, would her boyfriend wear lipstick?” I asked, turning the cup to show him that it had clearly been kissed with fuchsia lips.

“So what if she drank coffee? The baby’s healthy.”

“We put it in the contract, Hal. She blew it off.” I leaned into the car again, tried the ashtray in the backseat, and bingo! Keys.

“It wasn’t in the contract,” said Hal somewhat meekly.

“Yes, it was. I specifically remember that one.” I scooped up the keys and slid them into my pocket.

“It was, but then it wasn’t.”

I stood up slowly. “What?” I slammed the car door and turned to Hal. “You took it out?”

“She asked me to,” he said, shrugging.

“When? Why didn’t you tell me?” I spun around in place. I didn’t know what to do with my frustration, my hurt.

“I didn’t think it was a big deal,” said Hal, palms up.

“Yes, it certainly is,” I said. “And how, like, did she call you, or—?”

“Yeah, she called me. Or maybe it was an email. Anyway, I told her not to worry about it.”

I stormed away from Hal and headed straight to the apartment building. I pulled out the key and opened the door. Hal followed and almost didn’t make it into the building before the door slammed shut.

“Hey,” he shouted.

I stomped up the first of three flights of stairs.

“Wait for me,” he said, huffing behind me.

I unzipped my parka on the second floor. I wasn’t in the best shape for stair climbing. Our footsteps hit beats that were not together, not synchronized, making noise, not music. “At least she didn’t smoke,” I said, reaching the third floor, “unless you took that out, too.”

Hal stopped on the landing for a moment, taking that in before continuing up to join me. I knocked first, then unlocked the apartment and went in. The air smelled stale. We stood in the entryway and looked at the small living room. “What do you think?” Hal said, deferring to me.

“Doesn’t look like anyone’s been here in a while.”