Still Choosing You
Book 1 Chapter 5 — Scene 2: DINNER ALONE
The rice cooker clicked softly.
Emma looked up from the kitchen counter.
Six thirty-two.
The apartment was quiet except for the television playing in the living room.
A message had arrived twenty minutes earlier.
Running late again.
Sorry.
She had already read it.
There was no reason to read it twice.
Dinner was ready.
Soup.
Vegetables.
Chicken.
Enough for two people.
Just like always.
Emma carried the dishes to the table.
Two bowls.
Two pairs of chopsticks.
Two glasses.
Everything arranged automatically.
Years of habit required almost no thought.
She stepped back and looked at the table.
Then she glanced at her phone.
No new messages.
The food continued steaming.
The apartment remained still.
After a moment, she walked back into the kitchen.
Opened a container.
Stored half the vegetables.
Covered the soup.
Placed one portion of chicken aside.
The movements were efficient.
Practiced.
Nothing dramatic.
Just adjustments.
When she returned to the dining table, only one place setting remained.
Emma sat down.
The chair across from her stayed empty.
She picked up her chopsticks.
Started eating.
The television continued talking from the next room.
Some game show.
People laughing.
People cheering.
The sounds filled the apartment better than silence.
Halfway through dinner, her phone vibrated.
She glanced at the screen.
Daniel.
Sorry. Still stuck here.
Eat first.
Emma looked at the message.
Then at the food.
Then back at the screen.
Okay.
She pressed send.
A few seconds later, the message showed as delivered.
Nothing else followed.
The conversation ended naturally.
Neither had anything more to add.
Emma placed the phone beside her bowl.
The soup had cooled slightly.
She finished dinner slowly.
Not because she was waiting.
Because there was nowhere she needed to be.
After washing the dishes, she wiped the dining table.
One side first.
Then the other.
Her movements slowed when she reached the empty chair.
Only for a second.
Then she continued.
The chair remained where it always was.
The apartment looked exactly the same.
Yet dinner felt different now.
Not lonely.
Not unusual.
Simply familiar.
That realization lingered longer than she expected.
A month ago, eating alone had felt temporary.
Something they would eventually return from.
Now it felt like part of the schedule.
Like garbage collection days.
Like utility bills.
Like grocery shopping.
A normal thing that happened every week.
Emma looked toward the clock.
Seven twenty-one.
Daniel would probably be home later.
Maybe eight.
Maybe nine.
Maybe after that.
The estimate no longer mattered much.
She already knew dinner would be over before he arrived.
The evening would continue without him.
And when he came home, he would join whatever part of the evening remained.
The realization wasn't painful.
That was what unsettled her.
It had stopped feeling painful.
It was beginning to feel normal.
Emma folded the dish towel and hung it neatly beside the sink.
Then she switched off the kitchen light.
The dining table disappeared into the softer glow coming from the living room.
One chair occupied.
One chair empty.
Neither looked out of place anymore.
For the first time, Emma realized she had planned her evening around Daniel being late.
Not around Daniel coming home.
She stood there for a moment.
Then walked into the living room.
The routine continued.
Exactly as expected.
Scene-by-scene release. Continue only when the next scene is ready.