Mark Kleid

A small boy squashing an insect sets in motion a series of events, large and small, that include a lost restaurant reservation, a drunken fender-bender, disruption of basic cable television service, and more than one relationship falling apart. One person's disaster becomes another's boon, and vice versa--because a man loses his job, a young girl becomes the lead ballerina in the school play, which in turn causes the death of a pet pig. These characters weave around Los Angeles and each other as seemingly mundane events fall into place, putting them on a collision course with a common fate and one heroic act of competence.

Lorie Brindel works at an insurance company and falls in love with one of her clients, the much older Ed Bledsoe. Spending weeks of passion together, Lorie is convinced that Ed is the man of her life and that he would marry her. When Ed decides to break up the relationship, Lorie does not accept it and tries to win him back, falling from her extreme love into an equally extreme hatred.