Nicole comes over after work on Thursday to "supervise" my packing for the weekend. I bubble on to her about my notes and outlines for the work I'm doing, and she pretends to be interested in my story ideas. Nicole always lets me talk at her while I'm in the brainstorming stage, and I never think she's listening, but she always has a comment that helps me move a story from blah to fantastic.

Today, she's definitely not listening, though. She's rummaging through my closet, ...