Author's Note: This, like AyakoNoChou's "Change of Heart," is
from a course assignment comparing Love, Loyalty, and Friendship
of Genji's time with ours, so it involves an OC (the only one
I've put in a fic for seven years or so…), but there's plenty of
canon, so don't worry! In fact, every line of dialogue is from
the novel. I guess I'd better credit that to Royall Tyler's
translation, although the novel itself must be in the public
domain by now… Anyway, enjoy!   Toni lay wide awake in bed. It
had to be past midnight, and her husband still hadn't come home.
The light in the living room stayed on, just in case, but
something told her she wouldn't be seeing him again until he
came home from work the next evening.  She turned over to face
the other wall, thinking for the hundredth time that there was
no way an ordinary office worker would have reason to stay at
work the whole night. This wasn't Japan; workers here were not
that devoted! At first she didn't want to believe the rumors her
friends had told her. J