Adam leaves the station and goes to the bar at Nyx. Stupid moves, illogical moves.

They give Adam gin after gin, but she doesn't come down. No one has told her he's there, so she's curled in the Streetheart shirt, eyes closed and head hidden under the blankets.

Adam tries knocking on the penthouse floor. Tries looking for Peter, who isn't downstairs. He's up in the penthouse, too, watching T.V and bringing Eris food occasionally. In a few hours, he'll switch off with Kayla, who won't be at Nyx for another little while.

Adam drinks the gin, drinks more gin. He wants her to come downstairs. Wants her to come downstairs in the red dress, and they can restart. He won't leave when he gets up. He'll call Sarah from the penthouse living room, tell her he's going to be late, and they'll talk when he gets there. He'll go back to her room. Get back into the bed. Run his hands over her arms and kiss her forehead. Tell her he's going to leave to go to Daphne's party. He's not going to run into Nikolas on the stairs. It's just not going to happen. The sun will wake her up again in a few hours, and she'll never put on the Streetheart shirt and make a martini. She'll go down to Nyx, be Eris. She'll never become his mother.

Adam looks at that unknown number that called him twice that morning. It's her number, but he hasn't put a contact into it. He doesn't think he will. His finger wants to touch it, wants to tell her that he's here. Come down and see me. Show me that you'll be fine. Show me I didn't ruin you.

Adam drives home, drunk. He parks in the driveway behind the SUV and takes three minutes to unlock the door. Sarah is in bed already, but she can hear him fumble with the lock. She can hear him stumble his way to the kitchen, knock a glass off the counter.

She closes her eyes. She knows those sounds. They're so familiar, so eerie. She hears the fridge close, hears the water run. Hears him knock something else off the counter. She closes her eyes as tight as she can. Pretends she can't hear it. Night after night. She's not a bad person for giving him time to work out whatever he's going through. As long as he doesn't wake Daphne up. As long as he doesn't ever come home a little too early or a little too late. Sarah will keep her eyes closed until he pries them open.

Sarah drops Daphne off at school at seven on the weekdays. The fall is coming, and Daphne is starting kindergarten. Sarah walks her into the school, but Daphne does not look back.

She comes home a few days later and tells Sarah she needs a recorder. They're going to play hot cross buns in music class. Sarah didn't know they taught music that early. She didn't ever think Daphne would learn something that Sarah already knew.

Sarah goes to the store and gets Daphne a blue recorder. She buys a sheet of planet stickers and lets Daphne put them on. Adam watches from the kitchen as he makes his breakfast, already in uniform. His eyes skip over Sarah, land on Daphne. He's hungover. He's depressed, lost.

Sarah teaches Daphne how to play. She tells her what a 'C' is, and Daphne doesn't get it.

Adam watches as Sarah shakes her head when Daphne doesn't understand what she's trying to say.

"Like the alphabet?" Daphne repeats. "But they're sounds."

Sarah swallows. She doesn't know how to explain it. She glances at the piano, silent in the sunroom. "You can call them whatever you want," she says. "It's like you. You're Daphne, but you would still be you if we'd named you something else. The sounds are the sounds. We just named them as the alphabet."

"Can I name them something different?"

"It might be harder to learn that way," Sarah says.

Daphne tries to learn the sounds as the alphabet, but she doesn't get how the letters can also be sounds. That just doesn't make sense to her.

Sarah comes to the kitchen and tucks herself into Adam's arm. He watches Daphne as he pours his coffee into a cup.

"I was so excited," Sarah whispers as Daphne tries to write the letters under the notes. "I thought I'd be able to teach her something."

Adam kisses the top of her head and lets her go, putting the lid on his cup. "She'll get it soon. It just takes practice."

But Sarah doesn't get why Daphne doesn't get it like she does. C sounds like C to Sarah. It's C. It just sounds like C. Adam doesn't know what C sounds like. Daphne doesn't, either.

Daphne starts to fail music. Have her practice, the music teacher writes on her weekly notes. Have her try to remember those three notes.

Adam goes to work, does paperwork for the Diakos case. It's been quiet lately. He drinks from his cup, which he's since filled with beer. It's an awful taste after he's brushed his teeth, but that's the price.

Sarah doesn't understand why Daphne doesn't understand. She spends a long time figuring it out with her. Daphne excels in math. Does flawlessly in English. She doesn't get music. Sarah calls the school, tells them Daphne doesn't need to learn music. It's a useless skill, she tells them.

Music stimulates the mind, the teacher tells her. It's like another language. They've brought it into the curriculum because some kids learn better through music. It's stupid, Sarah says. No one gets a job because they're good at music, she tells the music teacher.

The music teacher politely tells Sarah that there's nothing she can do. She tells Sarah it may be beneficial for her to learn music, too. To help Daphne. Sarah doesn't tell the music teacher that she can sightread any piece given to her. She doesn't tell the music teacher that music is the only thing she understands, and the only thing her daughter doesn't.

Adam doesn't notice Sarah is struggling, because he doesn't pay attention to her. Sarah spends hours lulling over why Daphne doesn't get it.

Adam buys Daphne a poster of the solar system and they tape it up in the living room. Every time Daphne passes by it, she touches a planet and says the name. Eight planets, seven notes.

Sarah is sitting with Daphne in the living room, hoping Daphne won't look up and ask for help with her math. She looks at each planet. She gets a call from Kelsey.

"Tickets to the club at Nyx, Sarah. We have to go."

Sarah bites her lip nervously, watching Daphne. "Adam says it's a drug house."

"So don't take any drugs."

"Can we go to a different club?" Sarah asks. She knows Adam doesn't like it there.

"I know it's weird for you," Kelsey says. "But the owner probably won't even be there."

"What?"

"You know, the owner. The girl from the news. I doubt we'll see her."

Sarah shakes her head. "Why would I care if we see her?"

Kelsey is silent. Kelsey does read the news, and she did catch the article before it was pulled. She knows Sarah probably hasn't seen it, and she finds that exciting. Drama is drama.

"Eris, the owner of Nyx. The girl that was with Adam," Kelsey says.

"Well, I know she was in the news with him—"

"No, Sarah. She was with Adam."

Oh. Oh. That's who it was. Sarah looks at Daphne. Oh. Sarah assumed it was some girl she didn't know and would never meet. Some mediocre girl Sarah could compete with. She didn't know it was Eris, with the eyes of steel and the long legs. Eris, with that whiff of confidence Sarah can't replicate.

Sarah feels tears in her eyes. Eris is most assuredly bendy. She can twist in whatever way Adam wants her to. She probably did.

"Did you... not know that, Sarah?" Kelsey asks. She knows very well that Sarah did not know that.

"It's all the more reason to go there," Kelsey insists. "Show her who's boss."

Eris. Eris is most definitely the boss. "Can we go somewhere else?"

"Well, I'm not going to go somewhere else. I have three tickets. I was going to invite you and Madison, but if you don't want to go, I'll find someone else."

Sarah bites her lip. Daphne completes another equation.

"I'll go," Sarah says.

When Adam comes home, Sarah tells him she's going to the club with her friends. He smiles, doesn't ask where she's going. He can't wait to get Daphne to bed and bring out the gin.

Sarah curls her hair, does her makeup. She shows Adam three dresses, and he says they're all nice.

"Right. But which one is best?"

Adam shrugs, turning around to push the perogies he's making around the pan. "I like blue," he says. He doesn't even know which one the blue one is. He just remembers seeing blue and red, and he doesn't want her to wear red.

Sarah puts on the blue dress, and Kelsey picks her up. As she walks out the door, Adam lifts his water cup that doesn't have water in it in a 'cheers' gesture and gives her a little flick to leave.

Kelsey and Madison are fawning over the invitations. Kelsey says she went to a sports game, and the boys in the line in front of her asked if she and her friends wanted to go to Nyx that weekend. Sarah didn't know they'd been invited by guys. She wants to go back home. She's scared of Eris.

Eris' bruises are gone. Peter and Kayla have stopped babysitting her. She's folded up the Streetheart shirt and put it back in the drawer. Nikolas called her once last night, but she'd been in the shower. She didn't call him back, and he didn't leave a message.

As Eris puts in her hoops, she gets a call from an unknown number. She picks up the phone and answers.

"Hello," the line says, a man's voice. "Is this Eris Diakos?"

Eris slides on a heel, putting the phone on speaker. "Depends," she says.

"I'm the staff manager at Cods bar downtown. We're considering hiring a Nikolas Adamos, and this number is written down as a reference. Says he worked for you last."

Eris stops struggling with her heel and looks back at the counter. "I'm Eris," she says.

"Perfect. He has some great experience managing and serving, but we do try to figure out why our applicants left their last job. You know, find out if they had issues showing up or getting along with coworkers."

"No issues. Shows up on time. Gets along great with everyone."

"Do you mind telling us why you let him go?"

"That's actually"—Eris struggles to get the other heel on—"illegal for you to ask."

The other line is silent.

"He's a good worker," Eris says. "Hire him. I'm a little short for time here. Is there anything else?"

"Yes. Did he have any history of violence at all?"

Eris drops the shoe. It hits the floor. She glances at the phone. "Who is this?"

"The staff manager at Cods bar."

"Not it's not. This is a cop."

"Ms. Diakos, I assure you—"

"You talk like a narc," Eris says, resuming with her shoe. "Next time you call trying to squeeze a statement out of someone, don't call them by their surname. Bar owners don't do that to other bar owners."

"Ms. Diakos, we just need you to tell us the truth. Nikolas is going to jail, and your statement is important to making sure all the information is given."

Eris stands upright, finally having both shoes on. "Narc," she says, and hangs up the phone. She looks up Cods bar. Calls the number.

"Cods sports bar and restaurant, how can I help you?"

"I'd like to speak to the staff manager," Eris says. She inspects her nails.

"Is there a way I can help you with your concern before passing you off?"

"No."

"We really like to make sure—"

"You know that nightclub on Nephele? Nyx? Probably steals all your business."

"Well, yes—"

"I own that. Pass me off to your manager."

The phone shuffles.

"Hi there, this is the staff manager. Is there a problem?"

"What's your name?" Eris asks.

The man is quiet. Then, "John—"

"Okay, John. You give an employee's private references to the cops?"

"Excuse me?"

"Nikolas Adamos. He applied for a job, the cops contacted you, and you gave them his private information—and mine—so they could impersonate you."

"I—"

"Do you know that's illegal, John? I know, I know—they're the cops, how can it be illegal? Well, as it turns out, the cops do illegal shit all the time, John. Hire Nikolas, or I'll sue you for all you're worth."

The manager clears his throat. He doesn't say anything.

"Good talk, John," Eris says. She hangs up the phone. She holds the phone for a long moment.

She hasn't spoken to Nikolas in a month. He wouldn't call her if it wasn't important. So she calls him back.

"Eris?" His voice is cracked, broken. Eris can hear commotion around him.

"You're on drugs," Eris says.

He's silent. Eris knows his voice when he's high, and he's high.

"Why did you call, Niky?"

"The cops are on me, Eris. Hard. I'm going to jail, I—"

"They're scaring you, Nikolas. They can't put you in jail."

"My neighbour is testifying," Nikolas says. "He says he heard everything."

Eris sighs. "I'll get rid of him."

"Eris—"

"I said I'll get rid of him. Don't talk to him. Don't touch him. Relax. If it gets messy and it looks bad, I'll lawyer you. But I'm not going to help you if you're on drugs. I can't get you off if you're on drugs."

He's quiet.

"Who are you buying from?" Eris asks.

Nikolas clears his throat.

"Vinnie, probably," Eris says. "Is it Vinnie?"

It's Vinnie. Nikolas doesn't say anything.

"Guess who sells to Vinnie, Nikolas? Get your shit together. Go to work." She hangs up the phone. Closes her eyes. Walks out the door.