"You lied?  Again?"  Tony squinted at me, his eyebrows fighting for a position in the center of his forehead.  I looked away from him at the empty tables.  The coffee shop crowd was thinning.  Tony's exclamations had echoed loudly in the near vacant place, and the publicity of his accusations made me squirm.
    "I didn't exactly lie to Harvey.  I really did apply for teaching programs which would eventually get me certified and into education.  But I didn't qualify.  I have to take a bunch of tests, and they aren't going to be offered again until fall, after the programs have already started."
    "So you take the tests and apply next year.  There's nothing wrong with that."
    "Everything's wrong with that."  Hadn't he been listening to me?  "Harvey's leaving soon, and I have nowhere to go and no job.  I have nothing."
    Tony blinked, trying to think of something to say.  I ached for his sympathy.  I wanted him to nod and say that he was sorry for me.  Instead, I knew he was hoping that some positive side of the situation would come to his mind.  He was uncomfortable under the weight of my commiserating. I couldn't blame him; my mood was suffocating our talk like a candle snuffer.  He opened his mouth, and I could tell he was about to change the subject.
    "He's leaving me," I said.  "And I've left him so many times, there's nothing I can do."