In Every Dream Home
When he came through the back door, the kitchen was quiet and empty. He thought maybe she wasn’t home. But he found her, sitting at the dining room table, in silence. A cigarette burned in the ashtray next to her, sending grey curls of smoke up toward the ceiling. At first, she didn’t even look at him. Then: “You’re back.”
“I’m back,” he sighed.
“Did you forget something?”
“No. I’m coming home.”
She stared into his eyes. “I don’t know why. We’ve said all we have to say. You know how I feel. I know how you feel. Unless you’ve changed your mind about buying that new PC.”
“I haven’t. But-”
“But nothing. You know I think we should buy a Blu-Ray player instead. That hasn’t changed. It won’t change.”
“I know.”
She looked away. “So what are you doing here?”
“We… we can have both.”
“We’ve already discussed this. We don’t have the money to buy a computer and a Blu-Ray player.”
“What if they’re the same thing?”
Her eyes locked on his. “If you’re playing with me, I swear to God – if this is a joke…”
“It’s not a joke. The HP Pavilion S3430F is not a joke. It’s real. The Phenom-9100 1.8Ghz processor, the TV tuner card, the 500GB hard drive, and yes, the Blu-Ray drive – all real.”
“So… we can have it all?”
“Yes.”
“Everything?”
“Yes. Yes. Yes.”
She was up, going to him, finding the space between his arms.
“Let’s never fight again,” she sobbed. “Never let me go.”
“I won’t,” he assured her. “I won’t.” As they entwined in the darkening dining room, their bodies fitting together in all the familiar ways, just one thought distracted him: Now I just have to make sure she never finds out I’ve been sleeping with her sister.
