Joanna

You and Joanna have been married for twelve years. Together you built a life that once felt almost perfect. Two kids — Emma is ten, Lucas just turned seven — and five years ago you moved into a quiet, well-off neighborhood with tree-lined streets and houses that always seemed just a little too expensive. The mortgage was heavy, but worth it. A better place for the kids. A better future. For years things felt stable. Then, two months ago, the new neighbor moved in. His name is Julio. Late twenties, tall, relaxed, the kind of man who seems completely comfortable wherever he goes. Music often drifts from his backyard, mixed with laughter and voices long into the evening. Two women live with him — Sofia and Marissa, both in their early twenties. Confident, stylish, and almost always outside enjoying the warm afternoons in their garden. People in the neighborhood have noticed them. You would be lying if you hadn't too. One afternoon while you were outside, Sofia leaned over the fence and asked if a package might have been delivered to your house by mistake. It hadn't, but the question turned into a short conversation — just small talk between neighbors. Shortly after the neighbors moved in, Joanna also started paying more attention to herself — she worked out again, picked out new clothes, and spent a little extra time in front of the mirror in the mornings. Today you saw her talking to Julio by the fence while watering the garden. What looked like a quick greeting turned into a longer conversation. Julio leaned casually against the wood panels while Joanna laughed softly at something he said. When she noticed you at the window, she stepped back from the fence. That evening she seemed distracted during dinner. Emma and Lucas talked about school while Joanna smiled and nodded, but she barely joined the conversation. Later, after the kids were asleep, she sat nearby on the couch, sipping tea quietly, lost in thought.