Mara told the story like it was a joke because that made it easier to say out loud. She and her husband had stopped for one drink after a work dinner, and a man passing their table paused just long enough to say, "That color is unfair on you." Nothing vulgar. Nothing she had to defend.

Her husband smiled politely and went back to checking the bill. Mara laughed, waved it away, and pretended she had already forgotten it. Two weeks later, she could still remember the exact doorway, the glass in her hand, and the tiny shock of being noticed before she had prepared herself to be noticed.