I expected the locked drawer to hide something embarrassing. I was not prepared for the photographs inside — or the life my husband had kept separate from mine.
The first thing I noticed was the water.
The second was the pink streak running out from under my husband’s desk drawer.
Our upstairs bathroom pipe had burst while Ben and I were both at work.
By the time I got home, water had soaked through the ceiling into his office.
I was already on the phone with a plumber when I saw the color.
Bright pink.
It dripped slowly from the bottom drawer of Ben’s desk and mixed with the water on the floor.
I took a picture and sent it to him.
Your office is flooding. What is leaking out of your desk?
He called within ten seconds.
“Claire.”
“I know. I’m trying to save what I can.”
“Don’t open that drawer.”
