“You seem… tense. Why are you here, Taylor?”

Taylor smiled delicately. Let her eyes linger on his. She brushed her hair out of her eyes.

“To talk, Harris. To check up on you after… you know. Could you keep for some tea?”

Harris frowned at the rapid stream of words, but turned to obey nonetheless. Taylor let her eyes, sparking flint, rove over the room. She keenly marked all signs of feminine cohabitation- a diaphanous satin nightgown folded neatly on the bed just visible at the end of the hallway, lipstick and brushes on a divan in the living room, and two pairs of pencil heels. All of them brazen proof of memory eroded.

When Harris set the cups down, she examined his manner discretely. An affectation of grief, perfunctory and transparent. Excusable as shock, apparently. But far too healthy, far too normal, for a man who unexpectedly lost his wife.

“Stella never wore heels, did she?”

Harris cleared his throat uncomfortably, a hint of annoyance audible. Good. He didn’t

let any emotion slip into his tone, however.

“They’re not hers.” He was clever. He knew all too well the close bond his deceased wife and Taylor shared, and dared not lie to her. “They’re my friend’s. She’s staying here temporarily.”

She let nothing penetrate her mask. Disgust roiled deep within. Friend indeed. The bed had barely gone cold after Stella’s disappearance before she sullied it with her presence.

“Indeed.” Her mind sifted through Tuesday dinner conversations- little tidbits, indicating infidelity. Inexplicable expenses. Foreign scents and stains. Distance. Apparently he’d had enough of the clandestine, illicit affair. She knew he’d done away with his wife. One of her closest friends. She slipped her hand into her purse.

“So, how’s life with your mistress?” Harris spit out his tea. Taylor received the display with a stony countenance. It wasn’t time just yet. Waiting would be prudent.

“Wh-who? Darlene?” He fumbled with his cup, setting it down shakily. “She’s a friend. Nothing else.” His hand unconsciously covered the table. A particularly interesting document caught Taylor’a attention.

“What’s that?” Uncomfortable silence, followed by hesitant titters. He moved as of to remove it, but Taylor was swift. She grabbed it. Smirked ever-so slightly. This made things interesting.

“Life insurance? Wow, you’ve sure upped the premium. And darling Darlene is the benefactor? That’s news.”

“Yeah, I changed it. Three months ago. Darlene’s been an amazing… friend, since Stel passed. I have no one else.”

Taylor digested the lies impassively. She knew exactly what had happened, and pictured it- Harris’ meaty hands wrapping around her best friend’s throat, squeezing the life out of her body.

Her hand clenched around something. She stealthily pulled it out of her purse. Her face was still perfectly manufactured- glassy and blasé.

“Enough. This is not what you’re here for, Tay, and…”

His words choked in his throat as Taylor plunged a knife into his chest. The endearment had done it. He gurgled, before collapsing to the ground. Clutched the hilt of the dagger and pulled it out. Big mistake. Then again, he never was the brightest. Taylor allowed her mouth to twist cruelly. Her pearly white teeth were visible between merlot lips.

“T-t-Taylor…”

“It was supposed to be me, Harris.” Her words were cool and cutting as the night air. “I helped you plot the murder of my best friend, all for you to throw me aside like a toy you got tired of, use my plan to murder Stel, and acquire new eye candy. I was willing to betray my best friend for you, for love. But you betrayed me. And you shall now pay for that.”

Harris struggled on the ground, eyes wide and pained. Taylor watched the life ebb from his eyes. She wiped a beady tear threatening to flow.

“I really did love you, Harris. Still do, possibly. But you needed to learn the consequences of betrayal. To me, especially.”

She knelt down. Kissed a rough, shaking cheek. Leaning down to his ear, she whispered, “The number of times I had to restrain myself, all these months, is staggering. When you first ‘found out’, at the service, every time I saw you and darling Darlene…”

She got up. Went to the kitchen for cleaning supplies. “But I’ve recently discovered that I can maintain an impeccable poker face. Which I shall keep as I dump the body of my former love into a lake. After all, no body no crime, right Har?”