Tranquility By Tuesday Novels & Stories

She couldn’t breathe in this silence. Tiana pushed herself up, walked barefoot to the dresser, and turned the smart speaker all the way up. A slow, filthy R&B track filled the room with deep bass, velvet vocals, the kind of song that felt like sex even when you were alone. Loud enough that Maryann, the housekeeper, would never hear a thing.

Easy and steady. Outside somebody was cutting grass. Just that sound coming through the window. Nothing else going on. No feet in the hall. No cars. No knocking. Just Tuesday. She sat there and let it stay quiet. That was more than enough.

Manageable. I set the notes down and leaned back. The leather creaked under my weight, the familiar sound grounding me in the room's quiet. Outside, the city stretched in all directions, glass towers catching the last of the afternoon light, streets clogged with traffic inching forward as if in slow protest. Tuesday. Another day like any other, measured, orderly, yet never quite empty of motion.

I answered, and then came the icy voice of Alexander's secretary. "Hello, Ms. Cooper. I'm calling from Mr. Langley's secretary's office. He's asked me to remind you that you have 12 hours remaining of that 24-hour deadline. He's seen what you've done so far and believes you've caused an even messier internal feud, not a solution. "In fact, he's growing increasingly doubtful about your crisis management abilities. If, by 9:00 am tomorrow, we don't see a decisive, thorough plan that can convince the board, the termination of our cooperation agreement will be delivered promptly."

I did not choose the beginning. I chose everything after it. I am choosing still. Every Tuesday. Every single one.

This is Tuesday. Every Tuesday. The Tuesdays of the contract and the F train and the bistro stool and the Malbec and the first hand-holding in the January cold and the apology and the key and the proposal and the wedding and everything after. The Tuesday that was always the day they came back to, that was always the container for the thing that was real. The Tuesday that had been the day of the contract signing, the day of the first dinner at the bistro, the day of the key, the day of the proposal, the day of the wedding. The Tuesday that had become, without either of them planning it, their day—the day when things happened, the day when decisions were made, the day when life turned in new d

No tearful voicemail saying, "I'm sorry, please come back." He found himself scrolling through his contacts, stopping on Ruby's little profile picture. He scrolled up through Lynn's messages. [Ruby was so good today. She kept asking for her daddy.] [The doctors said if we wait any longer, it's dangerous. Please come home.] [Ruby couldn't sleep from the pain. She just kept calling out for you.] [Dan, I'm begging you. Please save her.] One after another. All desperate pleas. He used to find them annoying. But now, reading them again, his heart pounded faster and faster.

Episode 1 "Over my dead body!" Valentine yelled above the loud music coming from the spacious living room. As she stomped on the helpless stairs heavily, her long nightwear seemed to beg for mercy as well as it swept the bare floor. Tony was seated in his favorite rollercoaster chair as he played his life game. "Not again! What's it this time!" He yelled naughtily. "Will you turn off that trash right now!" Valentine yelled back at the teenager, her eyes were blazing with fury.

What's frustrating is I have no clue what the hell was going on. I decided it would be best to start getting ready for the day. I had a duel that I have to win and if I practice for it I'll be able to get my mind off of things. I went to the bathroom and took a long cold shower, allowing the cold water to ease my tense muscles. Everywhere still seemed quiet even though all my hearing was from the noise from the showerhead. "What in the world is going on today?" I asked out loud again. I looked at my right wrist to see the mark of the moon still in place. "Could it be because of this duel?"