4 NoraShivering, Nora hopped up from the toilet. The seat on this commode was always too cold. Zipping her jeans, she stepped to the wash basin and turned the HOT faucet on full force. Water splashed into the porcelain sink. She pushed up the sleeves on her hoodie and waited for the flow to reach body temperature.
She kept her hands under the stream for a full minute. Steam moistened her face and she squeezed a dollop of liquid soap from the dispenser. Lathering it onto her hands, she smelled fake pine and sage, as if she’d wandered into a cardboard forest.
Finished, she dried her hands on the dark green towel. A brown embroidered elk peered out at her from the soft cotton and she traced its bumpy outline as she massaged her fingers. Her lover’s ex-wife had been an interior designer. The
