1. My first love was my homeroom teacher.
2. What was her name again?
4. Ayako.
5. Ayano.
6. "Let's have a great year together!"
7. "My name is..."
9. "Shimoda Ayako."
1. I should have guessed.
2. A married woman.
3. So it goes.
4. All the girls I fall for...
5. "Married, eh?"
6. I can't stop wanting what I can't have.
7. Always seem to be married.
1. Women of a certain age are a minefield.
2. I've gotten good at guarding my heart.
3. Same old story. Another failed romance...
4. But...
5. That's why I take the precautions I do.
6. Then I take a peek at her ring finger.
7. I make sure we're on the same page.
8. I always make sure she's feeling me first.
9. I thought I was good at catching this stuff.
10. And yeah, some people don't wear rings.
11. But there are tells that give them away.
1. But wait.
2. No!
3. You...
4. Came onto me first...!
1. It's me again.
2. I'm so, so sorry about the other day.
1. I was so excited...
2. to see you again.
3. I planned to show up alone, but...
4. I never meant for things to happen like this.
1. I was too afraid to tell you the whole truth.
2. I'm sorry.
1. I thought I'd found a cute, innocent girl.
2. Turns out she was the one playing me.
3. I wonder... Was it fate? It felt star-crossed.
4. I'd already fallen hard.
5. But then I find out... She's got a husband.
6. Now what?
1. Maybe she gets off on messing around with people?
2. No, no.
3. Or...
4. What if meeting me is what stirred something in her?
5. Am I just a fling to her?
6. Anyone she met that night would have been fine.
7. Yeah. I bet I'm just the latest in a long, long line.
8. ""I was so excited to see you again.""
9. Maybe she's confused?
10. Maybe she's desperate?
11. Or what if things aren't great with her husband?
12. Does she regret it now?
1. I wanted to see her so, so badly.
2. I wanted that, too.
3. "........."
1. "Yes."
2. I was thirty.
3. I got married five years ago.
1. I hit twenty-five and kept putting off having a serious relationship.
2. I always thought I'd settle down as a young woman, but I got cold feet.
3. He's a good man.
4. He seemed nice when we met.
5. When he said he wanted to meet again, it didn't feel like a burden.
6. There weren't any awkward silences between us.
7. And he actually was. Plus, he was cute!
1. Every time I saw him, I found I liked him more.
2. We both had marriage on the mind when we met, so things happened fast.
1. "This way, even if I forget to put it on..."
2. "I'll be less likely to lose it, at least."
3. "Look! I made it into a neck- lace."
4. "Oooh!"
5. "Hmm."
6. "Now you've got me wanting one, too."
7. "And since we went to the trouble of getting matching rings..."
8. "But I forget my ring pretty regularly, too."
9. "What? But you wear necklaces even less than rings."
10. "May as well keep them a matching set!"
11. "Eh?"
12. "Okay."
1. One more thing we had in common, really.
2. We went to all that trouble, but even though we tried, we just wore them less and less.
3. The day I met her...
4. So they ended up being lovely pieces of art.
5. That day of all days...
6. "Looks good!"
7. Why did I forget my ring?
8. "Right?"
1. "Wow. Pretty pervy for a teacher!"
2. "Mm-hm."
1. I wanted to see her again.
2. "Can I see you again?"
3. I thought I'd just forgotten my ring like any other day.
4. Now...
5. But now?
1. "Oh! Hi!"
2. "You're home nice and early!"
3. "Sigh!"
4. "I'm home!"
5. "Oh, yeah! Meeting wrapped up early."
6. "You're still way earlier than I thought you'd be."
7. "Ugh! But I got stuck in traffic!"
1. "I said to myself, "Aya-chan deserves a night out.""
2. "I figured I could hang on 'til I got home."
3. "It was too late for lunch, too early for dinner."
4. "Boy, I'm starving."
5. "I skipped lunch."
6. "Why didn't you stop on your way home?"
7. "Nah, nah, I wanna take you to that place."
8. "Oh!"
9. "Oh, we don't have to. I'll whip up someth--"
10. "You know, the one we always used to go to?"
1. "Or..."
2. "If going out is too much hassle, don't worry, we--"
3. "No, no!"
4. "But you had such a long drive. Are you sure?"
5. "Trust me, hunger is a powerful motivator."
6. "I'll book us a table."
7. "Oh! Thanks!"
1. "And now?"
2. "Do you still want to see me again?"
3. "Yes."