“You can do that,” I tell her, and she nods and tries to walk away. “Either way, I’ll show up at your house.” She stops walking and turns around. “I’m not doing this here in front of everyone.” I look around to make sure that no one is paying attention to us. “Now the car should be out front.”

She nods and walks out, and our car is there waiting like I told him to. The driver gets out of the car and opens the back door, and she steps in, and I walk around. I sit next to her, but she glues herself to the side of the car, and when we pull up, I get out and walk in with her. Neither of us saying anything.

The whole ride up in the elevator, I hold my tongue to wait for when it’s just the two of us. She unlocks the door and walks down the hallway to the living room. She puts her shawl and her purse on the table and takes out the tequila, drinking a shot and then another. “It was in this room ten years ago that I broke up with him,” she says the words without looking at me, and then she takes another shot.

“It was my birthday.” She puts the glass down softly and then turns to me, and I see the tears running down her face. “He was going to meet me at four, so I went out with Karrie to celebrate.” She puts her head back and looks up at the ceiling, and then looks back at me. “I saw them on my way home.” I don’t say anything, and again, for the second time tonight, I put my hands in my pockets instead of going to her. “I knew he was married. I found out after four months,” she says, and two more tears roll down her face. She turns around and takes another shot, this time hissing and then wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “I know I disgust you with all this.” She starts to talk, and I feel like with those words, she just shattered me. “I had an affair with a married man.

“But he told me he was leaving her,” she says loudly. “And I believed him until I saw them that day. She was getting out of the car with him and she turned around to say something to him, and I saw her stomach.” She swallows now and puts her hands to her mouth. “That night, he came over, and I kicked him out.”

“Do you love him?” I ask the only question I really care, the only question that really matters.