Eddie had hung out at home all day. He'd read the paper with Phil in the morning, he'd taken care of some loose ends from work, he'd channel surfed away much of the afternoon. Sundays had always been long, and the last few weeks they'd seemed interminable. Motivation to do anything noteworthy just eluded him. He and Phil were planning on getting meatball subs and watching 60 Minutes later, their long-standing Sunday night ritual. They told everyone else that they watched Sports Center; it was their little geeky secret. It was a goofy custom but to Eddie the routine provided comfort. It was nice, in a world that had been turned upside down, to have something to count on. Growing up his parents had always watched the boys Sunday nights – Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Harry Reasoner, Ed Bradley. Eddie had always cringed at the tick tick tick of the stopwatch, a harbinger of the sixty minutes of boredom to come. But now he almost looked forward to it. The faces had changed but the format hadn't. It was reliable. He did miss Ed Bradley, though. He was a badass, cool before his time. The earring. Righteous.

Eddie had passed much of the day, and the few preceding it, deep in thought. His conversation with Owen had sparked conclusions and emotions heretofore not in evidence. He'd felt the rapier edge of his anger dull somewhat. He'd managed to find the tiniest shred of empathy for Janet and what that one fateful day must have been like for her. He hadn't just kissed his old girlfriend. He'd had some pretty impure thoughts about her, about their past and the possibility of their future. His act of contrition with Janet had been half-assed and half-hearted. He realized this now. Yet the pain of her transgression was still miserably fresh. That punishment just did not fit the perceived crime she'd concocted in her head.

So he'd come to these conclusions but knew not what to do next. He'd carried her letter with him in his back jeans pocket since opening it a few days ago. She'd really put herself out there, brave girl. He imagined she deserved a reply of some sort. But he had loitered at the crossroads of what to do next. He'd fruitlessly waited for some type of sign. Either he was pretty dense or no sign had come.

Late in the afternoon he felt increasingly restless. He had to get out of the house for a bit.

"Hey, Phil, I've got some stuff I gotta do. I'll bring home subs, though. Need anything else while I'm out?"

"Can't think of anything, Eddie. We're on for Sixty Minutes?"

"We are. I'll be back long before then."

"All right, man. Take care, huh?"

"Always do."