Still Choosing You
Book 1 Chapter 3 — Scene 7: AFTER DINNER
The dishes were already in the sink when Daniel stood up.
Emma carried the soup pot into the kitchen.
Water ran briefly.
A bowl touched the counter.
The ordinary sounds of ending dinner filled the apartment.
Behind her, Daniel remained standing near the table for a moment.
Not helping.
Not leaving.
Just standing there.
Emma glanced over her shoulder.
"You can leave it. I'll wash later."
"Okay."
His answer came automatically.
She turned back to the sink.
A few seconds passed.
Then she heard the zipper.
Soft.
Brief.
Familiar.
When she looked again, Daniel had opened his laptop bag.
The movement seemed casual.
As though he was only checking something.
Retrieving something.
Confirming something.
The laptop emerged from the bag.
Silver under the dining room light.
Emma watched for a second.
Then looked away.
The laptop itself meant nothing.
People worked from home sometimes.
People checked emails.
People finished small tasks.
Nothing unusual.
Still, something inside her paid attention.
Daniel carried the laptop to the living room.
The sofa gave a soft sound beneath his weight.
A moment later the screen lit up.
Blue light reflected briefly across the room.
Emma rinsed another bowl.
The water sounded louder than usual.
Not because it was.
Because the apartment had become quieter.
The television wasn't on.
No music played.
Only the sound of running water.
The ceiling fan.
The occasional tap of keys.
She finished rinsing the dishes and wiped her hands.
From the kitchen entrance, she could see him.
Laptop open.
Body leaning slightly forward.
Eyes fixed on the screen.
His phone rested beside him.
A spreadsheet filled part of the display.
Rows.
Columns.
Boxes.
The kind of work she couldn't immediately understand.
She stood there for a second.
Then walked toward the dining table.
The bowls were gone.
The plates were gone.
Only faint rings remained where the glasses had been.
She picked up the cloth and wiped the surface slowly.
The table became clean again.
Behind her, Daniel typed.
Stopped.
Scrolled.
Typed again.
The sounds came intermittently.
Not constant.
Just enough to remind her he was still working.
"Need to finish something?"
The question left her before she planned it.
Daniel looked up.
Only briefly.
"Just checking something."
Emma nodded.
"Okay."
The answer seemed reasonable.
The laptop remained open.
A few minutes passed.
Then ten.
Then more.
Emma folded the cloth and hung it over the cabinet handle.
The kitchen lights reflected faintly in the dark window above the sink.
Outside, another apartment block glowed with evening life.
Curtains.
Televisions.
Families moving through rooms.
Ordinary evenings.
Daniel remained on the sofa.
The glow from the laptop screen brightened his face.
Not dramatically.
Just enough to separate him from the rest of the room.
Emma walked into the living room carrying a glass of water.
She sat at the dining table instead of the sofa.
Not intentionally.
The chair simply happened to be closer.
The distance wasn't far.
A few metres at most.
Still, it felt different from sitting beside him.
Daniel clicked through another document.
Then another.
The spreadsheet disappeared.
An email appeared.
Then another spreadsheet.
Then a document filled with notes.
The work seemed endless in a way she couldn't explain.
He wasn't rushing.
He wasn't stressed.
He was simply continuing.
As though the office had extended itself into the evening.
Emma took a sip of water.
The glass felt cool against her hands.
She looked toward him.
"Everything okay?"
The question came more quietly this time.
Daniel didn't look away from the screen immediately.
A few seconds passed before he answered.
"Yeah."
His fingers continued moving across the keyboard.
"Just reviewing some things."
"Need to finish tonight?"
Daniel stopped typing.
For the first time in several minutes, he looked directly at her.
"I don't think so."
The answer sounded honest.
He wasn't sure.
That seemed to surprise him too.
Emma nodded.
The conversation ended there.
Not because either wanted it to.
Because there was nowhere obvious for it to go.
Daniel returned to the laptop.
Emma returned to her glass of water.
The room settled into silence.
Not uncomfortable.
Not peaceful either.
Just occupied.
The kind of silence that happened when two people shared the same space while doing different things.
Time passed.
The wall clock moved forward.
The water in Emma's glass lowered.
The laptop remained open.
At some point she noticed Daniel rubbing one hand across his forehead.
Then reading something again.
Then typing.
The work seemed to keep creating more work.
A message notification appeared briefly on his screen.
Another email.
Another request.
Another document.
Daniel opened it without thinking.
The movement looked automatic.
Emma watched from the dining table.
Something about the sight stayed with her.
Not because he was ignoring her.
He wasn't.
Not because he wanted to be elsewhere.
He didn't.
Yet the evening seemed to be pulling him away in small pieces.
One email.
One report.
One spreadsheet.
One document at a time.
Daniel checked the clock.
8:57 PM.
The number surprised him.
He blinked.
Then looked back at the screen.
Emma noticed.
"You've been there almost an hour."
Daniel followed her gaze toward the clock.
"Have I?"
The question sounded genuine.
He hadn't realized.
Emma smiled slightly.
"Almost."
Daniel looked at the laptop.
Then at the clock again.
A faint laugh escaped him.
"I didn't notice."
He meant it.
That was the part Emma believed immediately.
Daniel hadn't chosen to lose track of time.
He simply had.
The realization seemed to linger with him for a moment.
Then another email arrived.
The small notification appeared in the corner of the screen.
His eyes moved toward it automatically.
Emma saw that happen.
Daniel didn't.
He opened the email.
The moment passed.
The laptop remained between him and the rest of the room.
Emma lowered her eyes to the nearly empty glass in her hands.
Neither of them said anything.
The ceiling fan continued turning overhead.
The apartment remained peaceful.
No argument.
No disappointment spoken aloud.
No dramatic change.
Only a laptop glowing softly in the living room.
Only work sitting inside their home for the first time.
Only a husband who didn't realize he was beginning to disappear.
Emma looked up once more.
The blue-white light reflected faintly across Daniel's face.
His attention remained fixed on the screen.
At the dining table, she sat quietly with her empty glass.
The next morning, another meeting invitation arrived.
Scene-by-scene release. Continue only when the next scene is ready.