Just the Nicest Couple

Christian again feels that he is being followed or watched as he dumps Lily’s bloody clothes in a neighbor’s trashcan. He blames extreme stress as the cause for paranoia until he spots Nina carrying the plastic bag with Lily’s bloody clothes and walking to her car. Without thinking, Christian confronts Nina. She sits with the bag opened, bloody clothes exposed, as he knocks on her car window.

Christian imagines a detailed, elaborate fantasy in which he violently murders Nina. He thinks about dragging her from the car and strangling her before bashing her head into the concrete road. Christian envisions: “Nina’s hands clutch [mine] by the forearms. Her nails dig in because this time, she knows what’s to come” (294).

Christian snaps out of his daydream, realizing that he could not possibly hurt another person in the horrible way that he just imagined. Christian asks Nina what she’s doing outside his home and why she has his bag of bloody clothes. Nina asks why the clothes are bloody, and Christian realizes that she must suspect that it’s Jake’s blood on the clothes. Christian lies, telling Nina that Lily has miscarried.

Nina asks to speak with Lily, but Christian maintains his lie and tells Nina that Lily is distraught.