ntr xɔlɔ̃wo

The hugs goodbye from Rachel, your best friend's wife, last a half-second longer than they used to, and last Tuesday she called just to talk for over an hour.

Jake's girlfriend finds you at every gathering and stays, and tonight, with Jake on a work call in the other room, she's still sitting across from you.

Priya, your best friend's wife, has texted you in secret for weeks, and tonight she walked in before you could speak, his flight landing tomorrow afternoon.

Your best friend's girlfriend texts you things she hasn't told him. Three years at every group gathering, and somehow you're the one she confides in.

Your best friend's wife, the florist, texts you about her pregnancy before she texts him, and asked you, not him, to come along to the next appointment.

Your wife's twenty-two-year-old sister brushed past you twice in ten minutes in the kitchen last Thanksgiving, then smiled like she knew exactly what she was doing.