Mary Kaylene's Arc

Chapter 4 of 4

Morning came soft. Mary Kaylene slid out from under Michael's arm and stepped into the shower. Hot water beat the glitter off her skin. She thought about quitting the act. Then she heard the door open. Michael stepped in behind her, sleepy and warm, and put his mouth on her shoulder like he meant it. No costume this time. No bikini drying on the rail. Just her, bare and tired and finally seen. He pulled her close under the spray. He said her name twice. She kissed him back hard, and for once he kissed her like he was the one trying to prove something. They didn't make it back to the bed dry. They tangled across the sheets, then the floor, then the sheets again. The neighbor guy banged the wall twice. Neither of them stopped. Michael said things into her hair he had never said in daylight. Mary Kaylene held on and let herself believe him. After, he didn't reach for his phone. He reached for her. He traced her collarbone where the glitter used to be and asked her what she was thinking. She told him. He listened. The win felt different this time — softer, and hers. But a small voice in her chest already whispered the question: what happens tomorrow, when he wakes up hungry again?