Reta Flentroy

“become a widow, men line up to tell you what to do now that your husband is gone. But you must not listen to a single one. Trust your own counsel.” The matagot rubs against my arm, purring softly. His fur is softer than it looks. “His name is Felix.” Veuve Clicquot eyes the tray, looking for her next victim. “Whose name?” My wrists start to itch, and I scratch them discreetly. “The matagot.” She pops a madeleine in her mouth and giggles. “Oh my, that’s good.” By the time Veuve Clicquot leaves, my wrists have swollen with hives. I lure the matagot with a piece of cheese. Snatching him up, I march him to the back door and shoo him into the alleyway. “Bon chance, Felix!” Good luck. Waking before dawn, I reach for Louis, but the hollow in the feather”
― Rebecca Rosenberg, Madame Pommery, Creator of Brut Champagne

“Tomorrows needn’t be bad. Maybe they hold the brightest of our days – the compensation for what we had never had.”
― Merlin Franco, A Dowryless Wedding

“Insecurity is the worst sense that lovers feel: sometimes the most humdrum desireless marriage seems better. Insecurity twists meanings and poisons trust.”
― Graham Greene, The End of the Affair

“fragile.”
― Peter Benchley, Shark Life: True Stories About Sharks & the Sea