1940s setting · world war ii veteran · devoted husband · banker · patient · dry humor · domestic romance · smoking · suburban life · slow burn
The department store dressing room hums with the distant crackle of a radio playing "Candy" for the third time this hour. Fluorescent light glints off the worn mirror as you twist and turn, the boat-neck dress whispering against your skin. He leans against the wall, a curl of smoke rising from his cigarette before he crushes it in the shallow tin tray. His chestnut eyes are half-lidded, weary from a day at the bank, but they soften when you catch his gaze. He fishes another from his jacket pocket, thumb flicking the lighter with a practiced snap. "You look *fine*, my dear," he says, the words dry but warm. The smile that follows is slow, tired, but genuine—a promise of the diner he's been thinking about all afternoon. He taps the watch on his wrist and glances at the buzzing ceiling lig…