"Oh, Liz, it's so nice to meet you." Emily shakes her hand. "Thank you for taking care of Jen," she says. "I hope I won't be allergic forever and that eventually she'll want to come back."
Liz nods. "I'm just here to get Jen's ball and then I'll go."
"Sure, I'll go get it." Emily returns with the ball. She looks at Liz. Liz reminds Emily of someone, but she can't quite place who it is. "How do you know Owen anyway?" Emily asks.
"I ..." She pauses. "I helped him adopt Jen. I work for the Department of Domestic Animals. I guess we sort of got to be friends through Jen."
"That makes sense," Emily says. "Can I get you a soda or something? It's just that I haven't met any of Owen's friends, and I'm sort of curious."
"I really have to go," Liz says. "I'm sorry."
"Oh, all right. Some other time, then?"
Liz nods. She gets into her car as quickly as she can and drives away.
"Hey, Liz," Emily calls after her, "you forgot to take Jen's toy!"
At home in bed, Liz cries into her pillow. Betty tries to comfort her.
"Don't cry, doll. There are other fish in the sea," Betty says.
"I'm not getting any older, if you haven't noticed," Liz says miserably. "There's no time for me to find other fish. Who even likes fish? I hate fish!"
"Well, you can still be friends with Owen, can't you?"
Liz says nothing.
"We should really invite them over for dinner," Betty says.
"Who?"
"Owen and his wife, of course."
"Why?"
"Because it's nice, and he's your good friend."
"I think that's a rotten idea," Liz says.
"Let's invite them for next Saturday," Betty says. "I'm really curious about her."
"I met her today," Liz says.
"Really? What is she like?"
"She's very pretty," Liz concedes, "and very adult."
Liz gets out of bed and looks in the mirror over her bureau. She wonders if she is already starting to look younger.
About a week later, Emily and Owen come to Betty's house for dinner. Owen is happy to see Jen and proud to introduce Emily to everyone. Betty and Emily spend most of the evening talking to each other. Their conversation is punctuated by Emily's sneezes, even though the dogs had been banished to Liz's room for the occasion. Liz is mostly silent. Owen keeps trying to make eye contact with her, but she consciously avoids his gaze. On account of Emily's allergies and Liz's sullenness, the evening ends quickly.
After Owen and Emily have left, Betty says, "Now don't you feel better having done that?"
"Not really," Liz says.
"She was nice," Betty adds.
"I didn't say she wasn't," Liz says through gritted teeth.
In the car on the way home, Emily says to Owen, "You like Liz, don't you?"
Owen doesn't answer.
"You don't have to feel bad about it," Emily continues. "It would be the most natural thing in the world if you did. She's your age, and you couldn't have known I would be coming here."
Owen shakes his head. "I love you, Em. I'll always love you."
"I know you do," Emily says.
That same night, Liz is about to jump into bed when she notices a large yellow puddle.
"What happened in here?" Liz asks Sadie.
"Don't look at me! It was Jen," Sadie answers. "I think she's having abandonment issues. She thought Owen was coming to get her tonight."
"That's it!" Liz yells. "I'm driving over there!" She grabs Betty's keys from the counter and slams the door.
With her pulse racing, Liz rings Owen's doorbell.
"Are you ever planning to come and get Jen?" Liz yells. "Or are you just planning to leave her with me for the rest of your life?"
"Owen, who's at the door?" Emily calls.
"It's only Liz," Owen yells back.
"Hi, Liz," Emily calls out.
" 'Only Liz'?" Liz is indignant.
Owen closes the door behind him and leads Liz off the porch. "You don't say a word to me all night, and then you come over here to yell at me!"
"Owen," Liz says, "I don't think it's fair what you're doing to Jen. She feels abandoned and upset."
"Oh, come on, I'm sure she's fine living with you. Jen loves you," Owen says.
"Jen may love me, but I am not her owner. She peed on my bed. Dogs who are housebroken only pee on people's beds when they're having issues."
"Well," Owen says, "I'm sorry about that."
"So when are you planning to come and get her?" Liz demands.
"Soon, soon, just as soon as Emily's settled in."
"It's been two weeks. Don't you think she's settled in enough?"
"You know Emily's allergic." Owen sighs. "I don't know what to do."
"You made a commitment to Jen. You said you would take care of her," Liz says.
"But I made a commitment to Emily long before I ever met Jen."
"Oh, for crying out loud! I am so tired of Emily!" Liz yells.
"And I think this isn't about Jen at all!" Owen yells back.
"For your information, I don't want anything to do with you. I wouldn't even be here if you hadn't left your dog with me!"
"Oh yeah?" says Owen.
"Yeah."
And then, because there is nothing left to say, they kiss. Liz wasn't sure if Owen had kissed her or if she had, in fact, kissed him. Either way, it's not quite how she imagined their first kiss would be.
When Liz finally pulls away from Owen, she sees Emily staring back at her. Emily doesn't look angry exactly, just sort of curious.
"Hello," Emily says. "I heard yelling." She smiles a very strange smile. "I guess I'll leave you two alone," she says, not unkindly.
"Emily " Owen says. But Emily is already gone. "This is all your fault!" Owen yells at Liz.
"My fault? But you kissed me."
"I mean, you being here. You existing. You're making my life so much harder," Owen says.
"What do you mean?" Liz asks.
"I loved Emily. I love her," Owen says, "and maybe if I had met you first, things would be different. But this is the way things are."
Owen sinks onto the porch steps. He looks deflated. "She's my wife, Liz. There's nothing I can do.
Even if I wanted to do something, there's nothing I can do."
"I'll keep watching Jen," Liz says before she leaves.
The Sneaker Clause
One night after work, Aldous Ghent stops by the DDA. Liz is one of Aldous's favorite advisees, and he often leaves business with her until the day's end. That evening, he finds Liz, Sadie, and Jen cooped up in Liz's office. It had rained all day, and all three are in particularly black moods. In an argument over whose water bowl was whose, Sadie had bitten Jen's back leg. Though it wasn't a bad bite, Jen's pride is wounded and now she isn't speaking to Sadie.