The Night She Almost Stayed Home

Chapter 1: Cancel Plans

When Lena’s phone rang, she was standing in her kitchen wearing old sweatpants and waiting for the kettle to boil.

She glanced at the screen. It was Maya, a woman she knew well enough to share jokes with at parties but not well enough to call without warning.

“Please tell me you’re free tonight,” Maya said before Lena could say hello.

Lena looked at the rain tracing crooked paths down her kitchen window. Her plans for the evening included tea, a secondhand mystery novel, and possibly falling asleep on the sofa before ten.

“I’m busy,” she said.

There was a pause.

“Doing what?”

Lena glanced at the unopened book.

“Important personal things.”

“Someone canceled on me. I have two tickets to a show, and I don’t want to go alone.”