Jayna lived on adrenalin, absolutely adored the high it gave her. She drove far faster than the speed limit, crossed double yellow lines to pass, waited until the last minute to do her work, and had a grand passion for thrill-seeking sports. The rush of shifting into overdrive was her particular form of crack, had been for as long as she could remember.

So it came as a huge surprise to everyone when she fell in love with Gavin, a man who planned every second of his day with exacting precision. They say opposites attract and nothing provided a better example of that concept than Jayna’s and Gavin’s love affair.

They married on June 15th, because June was the traditional month for weddings and Gavin loved tradition.  Jayna’s contribution to the wedding was to show up 30 seconds before the wedding march began, still sliding her garter up her leg.

But just as opposites can attract they can also repel. Within six months, the happy couple was not so happy anymore. Jayna exhausted Gavin with her recklessness and Gavin exasperated Jayna with his plodding lack of spontaneity. Their love disintegrated and contempt crept in and filled the void.

Not one to plan anything, Jayna saw no reason to seek a divorce from Gavin when offing him would be so much more fun and immediate. She didn’t plan it per se but knew when the moment was right, she’d seize it. Just thinking about doing it gave her a thrill. She spent her nights fantasizing about different methods of murdering her husband. Knife, gun, fire, fall from a great height, poison, hitman, vicious animal attack, the possibilities were endless.

Gavin took the more traditional approach and filed for divorce when he realized that Jayna would not. They had separated months ago and he had moved into an apartment on the other side of town. He followed the delivery of the divorce papers with an in-person visit.  He had taken the liberty of drafting his suggested division of their marital assets and had couriered them earlier as well.

Jayna answered the door and glared at him. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you,” she snarled.  “You’re not going to divorce me.  I’m the one who will divorce you.”  She waved the asset division paperwork under his nose and ripped it to shreds saying as she did, “And I don’t even get me started on this piece of satire!”

“Jayna, if you think about it for just a minute,you’ll realize that I am being more than fair and reasonable.”

“No, you’re the one who is being unreasonable!”

“Unreasonable?  The only thing I want is the house and I’ll take the whole mortgage.  That’s a very generous offer.”

“And if I won’t agree to this, won’t sign?”

“I’d rather it not get ugly, Jayna.  I’m sure you want your freedom as much as I do.  Perhaps if you just think on it a while.  Maybe when it’s not so fresh–”

“We’ll see about that,” she said and then slammed the door in his face. A few minutes later, she reopened the door and saw that Gavin still stood on her doorstep, waiting.

“Why haven’t you left?” she asked.

“I wasn’t finished talking to you yet,” Gavin said calmly.

“Ugh!  Well, you might as well come on in then.”

Gavin smiled as he followed Jayna inside what used to be their home, would soon be his home again.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” said Jayna as she disappeared upstairs.

“Take your time,” said Gavin as he walked over to straighten a picture on the wall.

When Jayna returned, she brandished a gun and pointed it at Gavin. She smiled and he could tell that she was breathing a little faster than normal, that she was enjoying the thrill of threatening him and no doubt would also enjoy the moment she pulled the trigger.

Pow, pow, pow rang out the gunshots in rapid succession.

Gavin and Jayna stared at each other as the smoke from the gun curled up and then dissipated.  Jayna looked down at her abdomen and saw three gunshot wounds bleeding profusely before she collapsed on the floor. “Gavin. How…”

Gavin lowered his gun and tucked it back inside the waistband of his pants. “My dear, I’ve had this planned for quite some time. I only needed your provocation to validate my actions. Not entirely unpleasant, this whole adrenalin rush, but I don’t think I’ll make a habit of it. Afterall, look what it did to you.”

The light in Jayna’s eyes faded until she stared, unseeing. 

“No more fun and games now; let’s wrap this up,” said Gavin to himself as he made a series of trips to his car to retrieve the gloves, plastic sheeting and sulphuric acid he had stowed in the trunk a week ago.  He had always been a tidy man and quick to clean up his messes and correct his errors, all of them.