A woman named Ute notices Jonathan across the street at a party. Jonathan stands out from the other men in that he appears neat, put together, and cares about his appearance. He exudes confidence and seems to own the world. The narrator finds it difficult to stay away from Jonathan, as he falls into a new category of being "right". When Ute says Jonathan is coming over to them, the narrator states he is her ride. The narrator considers explaining her past relationship with Jonathan but cannot find the right words before he arrives.

1. FROM THE SUBMISSION BUNDLE (RATED PG)
“Well, well, look at that,” Ute said, staring across the street.
I followed her gaze and saw what she saw. Jonathan had on simple trousers
and a sweater with a leather jacket. In contrast to the rest of the men at the
party, who spent hours looking as though they didn’t care what they wore, he
looked neat and put together, as if he cared. He was tall and lean and straight,
with his hair brushed back off his forehead. He owned the world and
everything in it. The difficulty of staying away from him was past his looks,
past any single physical attribute. He fell into a new, undefined category of
“right.”
I set my back straighter and tilted my chin up. I thought Debbie would send
Robert, but instead I’d have to pretend I was fine and my face wasn’t
pounding.
“He’s coming over here,” said Ute, brushing her hair flat.
“He’s my ride,” I said.
Her eyebrows arched.
I paused. Jonathan liked blondes, if his ex-wife was any indication. Ute was
beautiful. She’d do well with him.
I thought about adding a short explanation. Maybe ‘I’m in love with him, but
I left him’ or ‘he was my lover, boyfriend, master, king...’ None of it worked,
and by the time I came up with ‘we were together for a while,’ he was upon
us.
“Hey,” he said, and that voice went right into my gut and ripped stuff out.