The Right to Be Jealous

The day after they kissed, both of them logged in on time.

Logan was already at the beach café where they had first met. Mia took her usual seat across from him. Nothing looked different, but every time she tried to think of something to say, the night before came back first.

As usual, Logan asked whether she had eaten.

When Mia said no, Logan opened the menu. He flipped through the same screen three times before eventually choosing the noodles he always ordered. Mia ordered a salad.

While they waited for the deliveries, the silence returned.

“We kissed yesterday.”

Mia finally said it first.

Logan’s hand stopped.

“Are we just going to eat like nothing happened?”

“What are we supposed to do?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“I thought you’d know more about this kind of thing.”

“Talking a lot doesn’t mean I’m good at relationships.”

Logan laughed briefly, then asked, “So are we dating now?”

Mia couldn’t answer right away.

They saw each other every day. They ate together, worked together, went shopping together. They held hands.

And yesterday, they kissed.

If all of that had happened in the real world, anyone would assume they liked each other.

But Mia still didn’t know where Logan lived.

She had never seen his real face on a video call. She didn’t know what his room looked like or what kind of furniture he owned. When they logged out, she didn’t even know how many miles separated them.

“Do we have to decide right now?” Logan asked.

Mia nodded.

They could keep meeting the way they already did. If they called it dating, maybe they would start expecting more from each other. Neither of them liked complicated things, and neither of them had much free time.

Mia didn’t regret kissing him.

That didn’t mean they had to rearrange their lives overnight.

When the food arrived, they changed the subject.

Mia thought they had handled it well.

A few days later, that certainty disappeared.

Mia had been invited to a digital design market inside ARCA. It was nighttime where she was, and she still had about thirty minutes before she was supposed to meet Logan.

The market was inside a huge glass greenhouse. Stars were visible through the transparent ceiling. Small shops sold avatar clothes, virtual décor, and filters that changed the scent or atmosphere of a space. Mia browsed for ideas she might use in an upcoming project.

In front of one shop, a man with the name tag `JAY` started talking to her. He said he designed virtual spaces. The scent filter Mia was testing was too strong, he told her, and recommended one of his own instead.

“So this isn’t a recommendation. It’s an ad.”

Jay laughed and said she caught him. Then he told her to try it anyway.

The faint scent of wet grass and wood spread around Mia. It was more natural than she expected.

When she said she liked it, Jay offered to install it for her if she bought it.

“I can do that myself.”

“It gives me an excuse to see you again.”

Mia laughed.

Then Logan’s voice came from behind her.

“Did our meeting place change?”

She turned.

Logan stood a few steps away.

Mia opened her message window and saw that he had sent a note saying work ended early. They had shared their current ARCA locations with each other as friends, so he must have followed hers here.

The message had gotten buried under market notifications before she noticed it.

“Sorry. I didn’t see your message.”

Jay looked between them.

“Friend of yours?”

Before Mia could answer, Logan said, “We have plans.”

His voice sounded the same as always.

The words were unusually short.

Jay immediately stepped back. He sent Mia a friend request and told her to think about the product and contact him later.

As soon as the notification appeared, Logan started walking toward the exit.

Mia closed the request window and followed him.

“Why are you leaving without me?”

“You were talking. I didn’t want to interrupt.”

He said it calmly, despite having already interrupted.

Outside the greenhouse, the paths were quiet beneath the stars.

Mia stopped walking.

“Are you mad?”

“No.”

The short answer made him sound even more obviously mad.

“You didn’t like me talking to him?”

Logan, a few steps ahead, stopped too.

“Why would it matter to me who you talk to?”

That hurt more than Mia expected.

“Right. It doesn’t matter.”

She opened the logout screen.

Only then did Logan turn around.

“That’s not what I meant...”

But if he meant something else, he never managed to say what.

“Let’s do our own thing today. You said it doesn’t matter.”

Mia didn’t wait any longer.

She logged out.

Back in her room, she became even angrier.

She had agreed that they didn’t need to define what they were. So technically, Logan had no reason to be jealous.

But hearing him say it didn’t matter still hurt.

Not knowing what she wanted from him only made her more frustrated.

Ten minutes later, a message arrived.

`I said that wrong.`

Mia read it but didn’t reply.

A little while later, another line appeared.

`It does matter to me.`

Mia read both messages several times.

Her anger eased a little.

She still didn’t want to answer right away.

Logan didn’t send anything else.

The next day, even as lunchtime approached, Mia debated whether she should log in.

In the end, she opened the beach where they had first met.

Logan was sitting on the seawall. The moment he saw her, he stood, but he didn’t come closer. Enough empty space remained between them for several other people to sit.

Just like the day they first met.

“I didn’t think you’d come.”

“Then why were you waiting?”

“I was going to wait even if you didn’t.”

It didn’t sound like something he had prepared to impress her.

He looked like waiting was simply the only thing he had known how to do.

Logan admitted he had been jealous the day before.

He hadn’t liked Jay suggesting that he wanted to see Mia again. But since Mia and Logan hadn’t actually said they were dating, Logan hadn’t known whether he was allowed to dislike it.

“So I said it didn’t matter. Even though it did.”

Mia told him the truth too.

“I didn’t mind that you were jealous. I minded that you said you didn’t care.”

“We said we didn’t need to define this.”

“I thought that would make things easier. It doesn’t.”

Logan stayed silent for a long time.

His lips moved once or twice before he finally spoke.

“I don’t want you dating anyone else.”

“Yesterday wasn’t a date.”

“I know. I mean I don’t want you to in the future either.”

“I don’t want you dating anyone else either.”

“I’m not seeing anyone else.”

“Neither am I.”

Logan thought about that for a moment.

“Then aren’t we already dating?”

Mia laughed in disbelief.

“A few days ago, you said we didn’t have to define it.”

“I changed my mind yesterday. I don’t think thinking about it longer is going to change anything.”

That was such a Logan answer.

He stepped toward Mia.

The two people who had been standing far apart were finally face-to-face.

“Mia, let’s date.”

Even asking her out sounded a little awkward coming from him.

Mia deliberately didn’t answer right away.

“We’ve never met in real life.”

“We see each other here every day.”

“You don’t even know my address.”

“You still got the gift I sent you.”

“We haven’t even had one video call.”

“We can do that later.”

“We’re both too busy to date.”

This time, Logan answered immediately.

“I’m going to make time.”

At Clara’s last party, a man had told Mia that living the way she did would make dating difficult. She had replied that maybe that was why she didn’t date.

Work was still important. She still had money to send home to her family.

But time spent with Logan no longer felt like time wasted.

“Okay. Let’s date.”

Only then did Logan’s face relax.

“You took too long to answer.”

“I was pretending to think about it so I wouldn’t look like I liked you too much.”

“I already know.”

Before Mia could ask what exactly he thought he knew, Logan held out his hand.

She took it.

“What do I tell people if they ask where my boyfriend lives?”

“Tell them I live in ARCA.”

“You still won’t tell me what city.”

“You haven’t told me your hotel address either.”

They kept the same rule they had always had—not asking exactly where the other person was staying.

For now, it didn’t cause any problems. They had somewhere they could meet every day, and even without knowing each other’s addresses, they could send food or gifts.

Meeting in real life would mean checking flights and hotels. They would need to clear several days from their schedules.

In ARCA, twenty minutes over lunch was enough.

For now, they both thought that was enough.

*