The Rules of the Swap
The four of us met on Thursday evening to discuss the arrangements.
Nancy arrived wearing a cream-colored blouse and carrying a bottle of wine. Alex followed her inside, greeting Sean with the easy familiarity of someone who believed he had already won an argument.
Everyone acted cheerful.
Too cheerful.
Sean opened the wine.
Alex joked about how strange the next week would be.
Nancy asked whether I had started packing.
I watched them carefully.
They seemed less nervous than I expected.
I wondered how many conversations they had already had without me.
Eventually, I placed a sheet of paper on the coffee table.
“I think we need to agree on a few things,” I said.
Sean looked at the paper.
“Of course.”
“First, no one gets pressured into anything. Second, we tell each other where we’re staying and how to contact one another. Third, if anyone changes their mind, the arrangement ends immediately.”
