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my husband, she is out of her mind. It’s bad enough she be wearing all that revealing and provocative stuff around you, but trying to get you to feel sorry for her is taking things too far.”
    â€œBaby, calm down. Let me deal with this, okay?”
    â€œJust like you deal with Britney and Beverly, right? I bet you haven’t even called to straighten things out like you said you would, have you?”
    I rubbed my forehead because I was starting to get a headache. “Damn, I forgot about calling Beverly. I had a busy day, and I’ve been trying to reach you all day. Where were you?”
    â€œI was out,” she said, standing up.
    â€œOut where?”
    â€œYou know, the usual: browsing the malls, going grocery shopping, getting my nails done, whatever.”
    I looked at Dana’s nails and could immediately tell they hadn’t been recently done. “The usual, huh?” I got up and stood in front of her. “Usually, you have your phone on so I can reach you. Lately, though, I know you’ve been lying to me, Dana.” I grabbed her hand and put it in her face. “Whoever recently did your nails, they did a shitty-ass job. And as for Saturday night, like today, again, you were missing in action.” I let her hand go and removed my jacket from the chair. “Whoever he is, Mrs. Wifey, you’d better damn be sure he’s worth losing me.”
    I walked out and left Dana behind.
    On the way home, I called Beverly and told her I’d stop by on Friday night so we could talk about what to do with Britney. And when Crissy, Mr. Duncan’s daughter, rang in, I told Beverly I’d call her back. Crissy asked if she could stop by the office tomorrow and talk to me about her father. Mr. Duncan, my partner, had been out of the office for months, trying to fight his battle with prostate cancer. I told her to come by as early as possible so we could talk.
    When I got home, as usual, and as I had expected, no dinner had been cooked. Little food was in the refrigerator, and if I looked hard enough, I could see dust particles floating around the rooms.
    Trying to relax myself, I took a lengthy hot bath and changed into my burgundy silk pajama pants. By then, Dana had already made it home and was in the hearth room with her legs crossed, while paging through the newspaper. I pretended as if she wasn’t even there, grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, and went into the bedroom.
    Before falling asleep, I called May’s Florist and paid for them to deliver Sylvia ten dozen yellow roses by tomorrow morning. The florist put me on hold to make sure they had enough in stock, and after she told me they did, I ordered ten more dozen for every day up until Tuesday of next week. I asked for different colors, and when she provided me with a total, I was shocked. Knowing that Sylvia was worth it, I didn’t trip, but the florist offered me a discount for ordering so many. I thanked her. Afterward, I closed my eyes, thinking about what Sylvia would do, and wondered what tomorrow would bring.

3
    SYLVIA
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    As I was coming through the door with my groceries, the phone was ringing off the hook. I put my groceries on the kitchen counter and hurried to answer it. It was Dana. By the sound of her voice, she wasn’t too thrilled to talk to me.
    â€œSylvia Marie McMillan, I don’t care how hard you may try, but you will not get my husband to lay you!”
    â€œAnd Dana Yvette Taylor, I don’t know how naïve you are, but one of these days, he will!” I hung up.
    I ignored Dana’s phone calls until I finished putting up my groceries. After that, I called her back to see if she was ready to talk to me like she had some sense.
    â€œSo, Miss Thang,” I said. “Are you ready to talk about what you walked in on today?”
    â€œJonathan already told me. And I think you really need to grow up and stop trying to get him to notice you.”
    â€œDana,