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“That was easy.” I can hear the satisfaction in my own voice.

“No, that was deeply irresponsible.”

“Was it?”

“No.” She sighs. “Which is irritating.”

She stays there with the phone in her hand, looking faintly suspicious of her own decision. “I’m also not going to think too hard about why that was so easy.”

Then she puts the phone down, removes her earrings, and loosens the clip holding her hair up. I have seen Laura ready for work several mornings since I arrived. She becomes smoother as she gets closer to leaving. Hair controlled. Clothes exact. Shoes that make a hard sound against the floor. Even the way she moves changes a little.

Now strands of hair loosen around her face. As the clip comes free, the rhythm in my chest quickens again.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“If I’m taking a vacation day, I’m not spending it dressed for Human Resources.”

She carries her coffee upstairs. I follow. At the bedroom door she turns.

“You know, taking the day off doesn’t mean we have to spend all of it having sex.”

“I know.”

“Good.” Laura turns toward the bedroom, but I catch her hand before she gets more than a step away.

“I want to leave the house too.”

She pauses. “Where do you want to go?”

“Lots of places.”

Her expression softens into a smile. “That sounds doable.”

I tug gently on her hand. “But sex first.”

Her laugh follows me into the bedroom. Her fingers stay threaded through mine, and every step takes us closer to something I now understand well enough to look forward to. My internal rhythm quickens with it.

I like knowing what is waiting. I like even more that I still do not know everything. I kiss her while she is unbuttoning her blouse, and when she starts to push it from her shoulders, I stop her.

“Leave it.”

She pauses with the blouse halfway off her shoulders.

“I want to see you like this.”

“Half dressed?”

“Yes.”

She stays exactly where she is, one hand still caught in the sleeve, as though the request has surprised her more than it should. Then she lets the fabric settle back into place.

“Okay.”

The answer tightens something through the center of my living structure. A faint resonance gathers through me before I can do anything about it. She understood what I wanted and chose to give it to me.

Last night I was fascinated by Laura naked because naked was new. This morning is different. The blue blouse hangs open over her bra, the rest of her still almost ready for work, and I like the contrast more than I expected.

“It makes me want to take the rest off slowly.”