“So you’re really going?”

  Finally, one of them broke the silence.

  Daniel and Emma had been in the living room for a while now, each doing their own thing, not saying a word to each other. It felt like they’d fought, though Daniel couldn’t recall anything like that.

  Above them, the TV on the wall was the only sound. The living room was the one place that could bring them together, even if just to see each other.

  Emma wore black leggings and a big gray sweater that used to be his. She was bent over the sink, washing various greens for her meal.

  Daniel sat at the table, glancing outside now and then or scrolling aimlessly on his tablet for some interesting news.

  “Yeah. Jasper’s in,” he replied, though a bit delayed.

  “Jasper? What about Colin?”

  “Colin wasn’t up for it. Which is good, since I only had one extra invitation.”

  Emma seemed in a better mood today, or so he thought.

  “Uh-huh. How’d they react when you told them?”

  “Pretty much like you. First, they thought it was dumb, then a game.”

  He saw her crack a slight smile.

  “Jasper didn’t need much convincing, though.”

  “He loves weird stuff… and women, mostly.”

  “Well, close enough. He agreed once he heard there’d be women there.”

  “Women?” She turned to face him.

  “Robot women. But lifelike.”

  “And you can…?”

  “I guess so. Not me, but in general.” He corrected himself quickly.

  Emma went back to peeling vegetables under the running water. He glanced at her more often than she did at him. Their conversation was calm, their tone normal—something increasingly rare in their relationship. He loved when they got along and hated fighting with her. When she’d cheated with her high school sweetheart, Reid, he’d understood. Naturally, the first few days were rough. They’d just moved in together, and Daniel had taken it as the first big hurdle in their relationship. So he’d forgiven her.

  That first night, he’d gotten drunk alone in the living room. Emma was in the bedroom, crying. The next morning, he lay down beside her, and when he woke up, she was still there, still crying. The following night, he’d gone out to get even. The girl he’d picked didn’t bite, so he found another he could pay. But just before it happened, he backed out. It felt like he’d hurt her—Emma, that is. He didn’t want to hurt her. Revenge would’ve driven him, but revenge was never a good guide.

  Stolen story; please report.

  After that, things were fine. They loved each other again within a week, and it stayed that way until now. Everything was great—well, until a few weeks ago, when Emma started acting strange. Had she cheated again? He considered it, of course—he wasn’t that naive—but she’d tell him. Like last time.

  “Did Jasper finally find a place?” Emma cut into his thoughts.

  “Yeah. He’s got a two-bedroom apartment. Thinking about a second one.”

  “One’s plenty for him… and his women.”

  Daniel laughed, remembering the bar from the night before. He hadn’t heard from Colin or Jasper since.

  “She’s probably still mad I kicked him out of here.”

  “Actually, it wasn’t you. I talked to him,” Daniel said, trying to take the blame.

  “Come on. He’s not that dumb—he knows I made you do it. You’d never have done it otherwise.”

  “Still, he’s never said anything about you.”

  That was a lie. He didn’t like lying to her, but Jasper often said things about her—not outright offensive, just enough to irk Daniel. He definitely didn’t like her.

  “You know, Daniel,” she said, setting everything down in the sink, turning off the water, and facing him. His heart stopped. He braced for the worst, not ready to hear it but meeting her gaze anyway. “I think this is actually pretty cool.”

  His heart started beating again. But he wasn’t sure what she meant.

  “Sorry?”

  “Today, my boss was talking about this park. He was telling one of my colleagues he got an invitation—I overheard them.”

  “And what’d he say?”

  “He was really excited. He sounded like you when you told me. I honestly didn’t think it was such a big deal.”

  “You didn’t believe me, but you believed your boss.”

  “Shut up.” It came out half-teasing, half-defensive. “My boss explained it better than you did. More… captivatingly.”

  “And?”

  “He said the park’s split into different zones, and our firm’s been hired to design one of them.”

  “A zone? Which one?”

  “Well, listen…”

  Emma grabbed a chair from the table, pulled it close to him, and sat down. It’d been so long since he’d kissed her that her closeness almost pushed him to try. But she wouldn’t take it well now. She went on:

  “Different time periods. The first is prehistoric—livestock, stone tools, huts, that sort of thing. Then antiquity—Greek civilization, Roman civilization, Renaissance, Middle Ages, modern era, and so on. That’s what I gathered. And we’re building the structures for one of those.”

  Daniel stared at her, baffled. Just the other day, she’d thought it was nonsense, and now her eyes sparkled with excitement.

  “So it’s not finished yet?” That interested him more.

  “From what I heard, some zones are done. Specifically, the ones you’ll be testing as guests.”

  “You? I thought you’d found a way to go too.”

  “Sadly, no.” Her eyes brimmed with regret for not taking the invitation. Daniel felt sorry for her but also a flicker of satisfaction—not right, but there it was. “Only my boss is going. Him and probably his wife, I guess. I don’t know who the other is. We might get involved later.”

  “I could—”

  “No, Daniel. You already gave it to Jasper. I don’t want to be that person. And your friend doesn’t like me anyway—I don’t want to look like some indecisive woman in front of him.”

  Even if he’d wanted to take it back, he couldn’t. But he was glad she refused. He’d already sent Jasper’s name to the email the woman on the phone gave him and had received dates for the tests and when they needed to show up.

  “Guess it’s a serious project,” she said, placing a hand on his knee. Warmth spread through him. “I’ll go with you when it officially opens. I’ll even pay.”

  There were sparks in her eyes. Daniel smiled at her, and she returned it.

  That night, they finally rekindled their relationship.

  It wasn’t like before—the passion wasn’t the same—but she seemed to enjoy it, and he’d seen her smile twice now. His own smile was back too. In the morning, she was gone, off to work early. It was his best night in a long time, even though they slept apart again afterward.

  Sometimes, he just wanted to hold her, nothing more.