from They Made The Effort

The house was already warm. She had adjusted the thermostat the previous evening. It was all in the planning, and she was good at that, at laying plans, she'd made a career out of it. In the bathroom she noticed blood - two days early. It was hard not to feel disappointed, this was something she hadn't expected. Not really. She cleaned herself. She felt cheated, but even without this, there was no way she would have been doing anything, although it would have been nice to at least have that possibility, to have felt like she was in control; to have been able to say no for no's sake. She stepped into the shower and immediately saw a splash of red at her feet. She closed her eyes to it. Life was short. Malcolm was fast asleep, for once it was the way she wanted him. It would probably take him till lunchtime to remember where she was, or, rather, where she had said she would be.