The days that followed their confession, there was a certain air or warmth between the pair, but neither of them made any move to discuss what had happened. Instead, they seemed to just settle into the budding romance as easily as adjusting to a summer season.
“You know what’s funny?” Derek remarked with a little smile on his face.
“What?”
“We skipped the whole dating phase.”
“…What?”
“We didn’t date or anything. We’re living together already. Do you think we’ll skip the marriage phase and go straight to being an old married couple?”
Adette couldn’t help but giggle. “I certainly hope not, that sounds awful.”
After a while, she said, “We have some people coming over later on this afternoon to look at some of the robots.”
“Why?”
“They’re seeing if they want to buy one.”
“Oh. Don’t they just like, place a request?”
“Sometimes, but sometimes people want to see them in person before they make a purchase.”
Derek considered this. It seemed fair enough.
“Which robots are they interested in looking at?”
“The usual; chef bot, tax bot, etc.”
“Hey Adette?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t people take any interest in that heart detector bot that you had the day I met you?”
Adette hesitated. “No.”
“Why not?”
“They think it’s a bunch of bullshit.”
Derek opened his mouth to protest, before he realized; he had been just as bad as them. He had at first been extremely sceptical of her and that robot, and just how trustworthy its results were. But if it wasn’t for her faith in her own invention, where would he be now?
Adette watched his face as he thought about this, her expression knowing. “You’re thinking about how you didn’t really believe in my robot, aren’t you?”
“I’m still not completely sure that I do now,” he admitted.
Adette nodded calmly. “Fair enough. I was sceptical of the science myself. But it was right about you, and it was right about Kevin, so that’s good enough evidence for me.”
Derek looked at her. She must’ve had a lot of certainty in her own invention to make that huge, live changing decision to leave Kevin upon the robot’s warning. Judging from the man’s behaviour, she was correct about how either he would’ve killed her, or she would’ve killed herself. Undoubtedly, if she hadn’t believed in her own invention, he’d be dead too. Much as he pretended to deny it, he knew it would have been only a matter of time before he overdosed.
“You really are my guardian angel, you know,” he said quietly, his eyes glimmering with a sudden soft affection. Adette’s cheeks turned pink as she looked at her feet, unable to find a response.
He put his arms around her waist and pulled her close; she silently allowed it, burying her face in his chest and coiling her arms around his neck. He rested his chin on the top of her head, breathing in her scent; a mixture of sweetness, the tang of metal, and something else he couldn’t identify that reminded him of warmth.
“I think you saved me too, Derek,” she murmured softly, “You gave me something to live for.”
