I Will Leave You, Around Winter

My best friend got married, so I gave fifty thousand in gift money.

My boyfriend, Thomas Gilbert, snorted. "How much do you even make in a month? Who are you trying to impress?"

I told him she was a friend I'd known since I was little. He clicked his tongue and said nothing more. That same night, he swapped the fifty-thousand red envelope for five dollars.

The next day my best friend called me. "Meg Cox, did you make a mistake? Why is there only five dollars in here?"

I gripped the phone and listened to Thomas explain from the living room, careless as anything.