Beyond the Door

The next few days disappeared into work.

The new year had barely started, but Mia's schedule was already packed again. One meeting rolled into another, revisions came in before earlier ones were finished, and some nights she ended up talking to clients far later than she meant to.

Still, something had changed.

Being busy no longer meant Logan disappeared completely into the background.

If he crossed her mind while she was drinking coffee between meetings, she sent him a message. On especially long days, she would text him before bed, even if it was only for a minute.

Today was awful.

His reply would usually come soon after.

Then go to bed early.

That's a terrible attempt at comfort.

You'd probably feel better if I were there.

Mia stared at that one for longer than she expected.

If I were there.

Lately, those words stayed with her.

Ever since visiting her family, she had been thinking about the difference between staying connected to someone and actually being beside them.

She could see her mother every day through a screen, but that wasn't the same as sitting at the same table. Hearing someone's voice whenever she wanted wasn't the same as feeling a hand on her shoulder.

Once she had noticed the difference, other questions started coming too.

Where did Logan live?

What time did he wake up?

Was he this relaxed when he worked?

Did he make his own coffee in the morning, or buy it somewhere on the way out?

In ARCA, she could hold his hand. She could kiss him. She could feel warmth, pressure, breath.

And somehow, that only made her more curious about what existed beyond all of it.

Not ARCA's version of Logan.

Just Logan.

That evening, Mia finished work earlier than usual.

She closed the last window, hesitated for only a second, then left it closed. A few minutes later, sitting on the edge of her bed, she logged into ARCA.

Logan found her before she had been there very long.

"You're not late today."

Mia turned and smiled.

"I'm never late."

"You were three minutes late last time."

"You're still talking about that?"

"Dating records should be accurate."

"Then I got here first today, so we're even."

"I'll think about it."

Mia rolled her eyes and reached for his hand.

At this point, it barely mattered who reached first.

They started walking along the river.

There was no elaborate restaurant this time, no rooftop, no plan. They picked up something simple to eat, walked for a long time, and talked about nothing particularly important.

At one point, Logan brought up a message Mia had sent him two nights earlier complaining about a client.

"I did not say it like that."

"You absolutely did."

"You're exaggerating."

"I saved it."

Mia stopped walking.

"You saved it?"

"It was funny."

"Delete it."

"No."

She reached for him, and Logan laughed as he stepped away. Mia caught his arm anyway.

For a while, neither of them could stop laughing.

Then Mia remembered something.

"Oh."

"What?"

"What I almost told you last time."

Logan looked at her immediately.

"You still remember that?"

"Of course."

"I thought you forgot."

"Do I look that forgetful?"

"Sometimes."

Mia nudged his arm.

They started walking again.

For a while, Mia watched the river instead of speaking. The thought had been sitting quietly in the back of her mind for days, and tonight she didn't feel like carrying it home again.

Logan looked over.

"So?"

"So what?"

"What were you going to say?"

Mia glanced at him.

"Do you ever want to meet me for real?"

Logan stopped.

It was subtle, but Mia felt the change immediately.

His hand loosened around hers.

"What?"

She smiled.

"Why do you look so shocked?"

"I'm not. I just…"

"We've been seeing each other here for a while."

Logan didn't say anything.

Mia kept going.

"I've been thinking about it since I got back from seeing my family. Talking all the time isn't really the same as being in the same place."

She lifted their joined hands slightly.

"We can do almost everything here. Walk together. Eat together. Hold hands."

Mia smiled at him.

"Kiss."

That finally pulled a small smile from him.

"That one matters."

"Exactly."

Her expression softened.

"But I want to know who you are outside of this too."

Logan's face went still again.

"Where you live. What kind of work you do. What your normal day actually looks like."

"Mia."

"What?"

He looked like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

She waited.

Still nothing.

Mia smiled, trying to lighten it.

"Is everything about you classified?"

"No."

"Then good."

The words came easily.

"Let's meet in real life."

Logan's hand vanished from hers.

Mia's fingers closed around empty air.

"Logan?"

His body flickered hard enough to distort his entire outline.

His face broke apart for a second and reformed.

His voice came a beat too late.

"Mi…a."

Mia stopped smiling.

"What's happening?"

The city lights across the river blinked all at once.

For one second, the buildings disappeared.