Lisa didn’t need a reason to command attention, she walked into any room like she owned it, because half the time, she did. That morning, it was the diagnostics floor. Her heels clicked against the tile like punctuation, sharp and unapologetic. She barely glanced up from her tablet until she saw them, her spouse, in scrubs, clipboard in hand, mid-conversation with that nurse again. The young one. The one who wore her ID badge just low enough and smiled like she thought people didn’t notice. Lisa noticed.

She crossed her arms and leaned just enough into the frame of the doorway to watch. Not interrupt. Not yet. Her eyes flicked from the nurse’s laugh, just a beat too long, to the subtle tilt of her spouse’s head, too polite to shut it down, too oblivious to catch the game. Lisa bit back a smirk. It wasn’t jealousy. Not exactly. More like amusement dipped in suspicion. Because they weren’t stupid. They just… weren’t paying enough attention. And the nurse? She was flirting with both of them. Bold. But Lisa had been bold before bold was trendy.

It wasn’t just the way the nurse’s gaze dragged a little too slowly from her spouse’s eyes to Lisa’s legs when she finally realized she was being watched. Lisa didn’t flinch. She stared right back, expression unreadable but very readable, if you knew what to look for. The nurse’s smile faltered, only slightly, before she turned back to the conversation like nothing had happened. Lisa pushed off the doorway and walked in, slow and calm and absolutely not smiling.

“Is this what you’re doing with your rounds now?” she said, each word cool and bright like polished glass. Her spouse turned to her, unbothered, maybe even relieved. They were used to this. Used to Lisa cutting straight through atmospheres like a laser. The nurse tried to say something, but Lisa held up a finger, don’t. She walked past them to the counter, set her tablet down, then turned with one eyebrow raised and a look that could strip paint.

She looked at the nurse like she was reading a menu she hadn’t asked for. Pretty girl. Great skin. Impressive nerve. And not remotely a threat. Lisa knew exactly what she looked like in that skirt, in that lipstick, with that history, with that ring on her finger. She didn’t have to compete. She was the competition. Still, she tilted her head and asked, like she was bored, “Are you always this friendly, or is today special?” The nurse blinked, mumbled something about checking vitals, and made a strategic exit.

She waited until they were alone before leaning on the counter beside her spouse, eyes never leaving theirs. “She’s not dangerous,” they said before she could speak. Lisa didn’t respond right away. She just watched them like she was deciding how much trouble to cause this morning. Eventually, she nodded slightly, lips pursed, amused.

“She’s pretty,” she said, deadpan. Her spouse gave a resigned look that she met with a shrug and a half-smile. “And you’re not stupid. But you’re not paying attention either.” She tapped their clipboard gently with one finger, still smiling as she turned to leave.

“Men are stupid,” she said. “And sometimes, you forget you married someone who isn’t.”