"What are you doing here in this downpour? I was just about to call a cab!"


    "You''d never get one in this weather, not at rush hour," the boy said, pulling his girlfriend into a warm embrace. "Come on, I''ve already got dinner started. I was just waiting for you to get home so we could eat together."


    "I brought iced tea and some takeout!" the girl chirped, holding up a bag for him to


    see.


    He took the bag from her, tilting the umbre to shield her from the rain, and the two of them walked off, theirughter echoing under the shared shelter.


    Hannah watched them go, swallowing the envy that rose in her throat. She and Lionel had been like that once. Life had been hard, but it had been sweet.


    She pulled out her phone and opened the ride-share app. Just as the boy had said, there was a long queue of people waiting for a driver.


    At the hospital.


    "I still can''t believe my own brother was the one who tampered with the car," Sandra said, her voice hollow. "Why would he do that? And why drag me into it?"


    She listlessly scooped up a spoonful of dessert, her appetite gone. With a deep sigh, she looked over at Lionel, who was staring out at the rainshing against the window, lost in his own world.


    "Lionel, what are you thinking about?" Sandra asked, realizing he hadn''t heard a word she''d said. "Is Hannah still mad at you?"


    At the mention of Hannah''s name, a flicker of something cold and deep passed through Lionel''s eyes. She had left without an umbre this morning. He wondered how she was faring in the storm.


    He quickly suppressed the thought. So what if she didn''t have an umbre? A woman who could find a new man in the blink of an eye would have no trouble getting a ride home. For all he knew, she was already shacked up at some other man''s ce. She''d always been careless like that.


    She''d gotten into another man''s car right in front of him. Kissed him, even.


    Seeing Lionel''s silence, Sandra''s voice softened. "Lionel, anyone can see how much Hannah loves you. This whole divorce thing is just her trying to get a ne out of you if you just talk to her, I''m sure everything will be fine."


    "Don''t worry about our affairs," he said, his voice clipped and cold. "Once you''ve recovered, you can join the legal department at the Rosenberg Group. Just tell Owen which position you want."


    Sandra stared at him, stunned. Before she could process his words, Lionel stood up. "I have to go. You get some rest."


    She nodded, watching him stride away. A sudden thought made her rx; maybe he''d taken her advice and was going to make things right with Hannah. Relieved, she picked up her phone and sent Hannah a text.


    [Lionel just came to see me at the hospital, but he was so distracted, I''m sure he was thinking about you. told him he should go talk to you,


    and be just left I bet he''s on his way how. You two should really talk this out.]


    Hannah stared at the screen, her brow furrowing. What was this message supposed to mean? Was Sandra gloating? Or was she trying to prove that she could wrap Lionel around her little finger?


    He would never "talk to her." She''d be lucky if he didn''t yell.


    Even though she knew it was hopeless, her fingers moved on their own, tapping open her chat with Lionel. Thest message was from when he had lied about being injured to get her to the hospital. Nothing since.


    If he was reallying to see her, wouldn''t he at least ask where she was?


    A bitter pang of sorrow hit her, and the tip of her nose began to sting. Waves of people flowed in and out of the subway station, met by family, husbands boyfriends of friends. Only she was trapped by the storm, with no one toe for her.


    Just then, her phone rang.


    She snatched it up, her heart leaping, but the screen showed an unknown number.


    "Hello, I''m at the subway entrance. Are you here?"


    It was the driver. Hannah felt tears well up in her eyes as a self-deprecating smile touched her lips.