A gift I never bought turned up in our bedroom drawer. I only wanted to know where it came from. The email I opened answered a much older question.

She swore her ex was gone for good, blocked everywhere, ancient history. Then she came home grinning and said he'd just been hired into the sales team at her company.

He came home from his fishing weekend tired and tan and smelling faintly of something floral. I didn't think about it again until the credit card statement arrived.

He texted me that he had landed safely and was heading to bed. The trouble was, that day not a single plane had left the ground anywhere on Earth.

He said he was going off the grid for a weekend of silence in the mountains. I only opened the map out of habit, half-asleep, expecting nothing.

He said he was flying coach to save the company money. The airline app told a different story before his plane had even left the gate.