The Height of Your Betrayal

Three months after Tessa and Garrett sign the lease on their place, the showerhead in the master bath begins sinking to the level of her forehead every few days. Garrett dismisses it as loose plumbing and calls her paranoid. Then, home early one rainy afternoon with debilitating cramps, Tessa watches Hailey, the junior associate his firm hired two months ago, walk in through the electronic lock he never mentioned scanning her thumbprint into.

Hailey slips her feet into gray knit slides that appeared in the entryway only last week, and Garrett drops to one knee to tend the bloody blisters on her heels. He remembers that ginger broth will irritate Tessa's stomach and nudges his cold brew beyond Hailey's reach, while half a bowl of cold oatmeal waits for his wife. In the bedroom, Hailey opens Garrett's nightstand drawer with the ease of long habit.

Garrett drives Hailey home through the rain and returns to hold Tessa, urging her not to overthink things. She has not asked a single question, yet the showerhead rests at its normal height.