Can I Get a Little Closer?

It had been about three months since Mia met Logan.

They still saw each other almost every day.

At some point, they stopped making plans altogether. Lunchtime would come, and they would naturally log into the same place. If work wrapped up early, they would find each other again in the evening.

Most of what they did in ARCA was pretty ordinary.

They ate.

They walked.

They sat next to each other and worked.

There were endless places they could have gone.

A train that ran across the ocean. A park with almost no gravity. An amusement park restored exactly as it had looked a hundred years ago, where no one ever had to wait in line.

And yet, on Friday evening, the two of them were sitting in the corner of a snow-covered bookstore, each staring at a laptop.

Mia closed her screen first.

“Why do we come all the way into ARCA just to work all the time?”

Logan didn’t even look up from the screen full of numbers.

“It’s snowing outside.”

“You haven’t looked at it once.”

Only then did Logan glance out the window.

For about three seconds.

Then he went right back to his screen.

Mia laughed.

“You’re just like me.”

“How?”

“Sitting in front of the ocean and never looking at the ocean.”

Logan finally laughed too.

Mia checked the time.

Seven in the evening.

She was done for the day, and she didn’t have anything scheduled the next morning.

That almost never happened.

“Let’s not work tonight. Let’s do something fun.”

Logan’s hands stopped.

“For how long?”

“An hour.”

“Thirty minutes.”

“Who negotiates how long they’re allowed to have fun?”

“We are, apparently.”

“Forty minutes.”

After a brief back-and-forth, Logan closed his laptop.

“Forty minutes.”

Mia changed the location immediately.

The snowy bookstore disappeared, replaced by an amusement park built over the ocean.

The sky glowed pink with sunset, and a massive Ferris wheel turned slowly in the distance. Behind it, a roller coaster track stretched far out over the water.

Mia picked the tallest one without hesitation.

Logan looked up at the peak.

“There are other rides.”

“Are you scared?”

“It’s virtual. What would I be scared of?”

He said it confidently enough.

But his steps slowed just a little.

Mia pretended not to notice.

As soon as they sat down, a menu appeared asking them to choose the intensity of the physical simulation.

Mia selected one level below maximum.

Logan chose medium.

Mia looked over at him.

“I thought virtual things weren’t scary.”

“Motion sickness is real.”

“Convenient excuse.”

“You can turn it up if you’re willing to do my work tomorrow.”

The safety bar came down.

The train began to move.

At first, the ocean was beautiful.

The higher they climbed, the less Mia thought so.

The amusement park below them grew smaller and smaller, until even the line between the ocean and the sky started to disappear.

Mia glanced to the side.

Logan was staring straight ahead.

“Are your eyes closed?”

“They’re open.”

“Your eyelids aren’t moving.”

“I’m concentrating.”

“On what?”

At that exact moment, the train stopped at the top.

The track ahead dropped almost straight down.

Mia laughed and called his name.

“Logan.”

“What—”

The train dropped.

Mia screamed.

As her body pitched forward, something suddenly came down over her right hand.

Logan’s hand.

A notification appeared at the edge of her vision.

Allow contact request from LOGAN PARK?

Mia hit accept without thinking.

Warmth spread across her palm.

Their fingers locked together, and she could even feel Logan tightening his grip.

The train shot upward again.

The ocean and the pink sky flipped upside down.

Mia screamed, then laughed, then screamed again.

Through all of it, neither of them let go.

The train rounded the final turn and came to a stop.

For a moment, neither of them said anything.

The overturned sea and sky slowly settled back into place.

Then a flicker of blue crossed Mia’s vision.

One butterfly.

And then another.

Two small blue butterflies drifted slowly around the stopped train.

“They’re here again.”

Mia watched them.

Logan followed them with his eyes.

“Yeah.”

One of the butterflies floated close to them before rising into the air again.

Mia’s gaze naturally dropped.

Their hands were still clasped together.

Logan seemed to notice at the same moment.

He let go.

The warmth disappeared all at once.

Mia looked at him.

“You grabbed my hand first.”

“Grabbed what?”

“My hand.”

“I don’t remember.”

“Want me to check the record?”

Logan tried to stand before the safety bar had even lifted.

“What do you want to ride next?”

“You could just admit you were scared.”

“How about the carousel?”

He refused to answer.

Mia laughed as she followed him off the ride.

Her palm still tingled slightly.

Whether it was from gripping the roller coaster too tightly or from Logan holding her hand, she chose not to think about.

Behind them, another flicker of blue passed through the air.

Mia didn’t see it.

Next was the carousel.

“This is way too childish.”

That was what Logan said.

Then Mia climbed onto the most elaborate horse she could find, and he took several pictures of her.

“You said it was childish. Why are you taking so many pictures?”

“So I can send them to you.”

“Only send the good ones.”

Logan zoomed in on the photos with complete seriousness.

Mia watched him and found herself smiling for no particular reason.

Forty minutes passed quickly.

Neither of them said they should leave.

Mia opened a golf course on the map.

“Want to play three holes?”

“Time’s up.”

“I know.”

Logan looked at her.

Mia looked back as if it meant nothing.

After a moment, he said,

“Three holes.”

“Do you know how to play?”

“A little.”

They agreed that the loser would buy dinner.

Logan’s first ball flew far.

Very far.

In completely the wrong direction.

Mia held back a laugh and took the club.

Her first shot flew straight and landed right in the middle of the course.

Logan looked at her.

“You said you played a little.”

“A little more than a little.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You didn’t ask.”

On the last hole, Logan’s ball landed in the water.

When the score appeared, Mia threw both arms into the air.

“I won.”

Logan opened the scoreboard again.

“Looking at it again isn’t going to change anything.”

“I was checking for an error.”

“You’ve gotten way too comfortable blaming things on errors lately.”

They decided to have dinner on the beach where they had first met.

Mia ordered spicy chicken skewers and mango juice.

“No peanut sauce.”

Logan checked the order twice.

“Why did you check it twice?”

“I’m trying not to mess up.”

“Progress.”

Then Logan’s delivery arrived.

Just a hamburger.

Mia laughed.

“Where are your fries?”

“I thought it was a combo.”

“Progress revoked.”

Logan silently opened the wrapper.

Mia took a bite of her chicken skewer and looked at him.

“Today was fun.”

“Because you beat me at golf?”

“That too.”

Mia deliberately held up her right hand.

“And because someone held my hand on the roller coaster.”

Logan put his hamburger down.

“Are we still talking about that?”

“You grabbed me first.”

“I thought you might be scared.”

Mia laughed.

“I had both hands on the safety bar.”

Logan went quiet.

Mia waited.

“So…”

“So?”

Logan looked at her for a moment, then seemed to give up and picked up his hamburger again.

“Believe whatever you want.”

Mia didn’t push him any further.

“Okay. I’ll believe that.”

Logan let out something between a sigh and a laugh.

A moment later, Mia absentmindedly touched her right hand.

Across the table, Logan glanced down at his own.

Their eyes met.

Neither of them said anything.

That night, the silence between them somehow felt longer than usual.