I started marking the days in secret.

A small notebook hidden inside a coat pocket I never wore. Every morning after he left I added a line. Day 19. Day 23. Day 27. The contract was supposed to end on Day 365, but the closer the first month came to closing the more the number felt meaningless. Alexander had stopped mentioning the year entirely. He spoke only in terms of now, tonight, the next time he wanted me.

On the morning of Day 30 he did not leave for work.

I woke to find him already sitting in the armchair across from the bed, fully dressed, watching me. The city...