>I click the radio off as I'm driving home, quiet rain pattering on the windshield. The soothing rhythm relaxes me from a day of collegiate study. The green-scaled love of my life just a few minutes away. I zone out a moment, mind focused on her for the moment. I snap out of my yearnings and pull into our little apartment complex. A small staircase and keys in the door and I step in. She's likely still working on her livestreaming. I drop my keys in the bowl near the door and hang my jacket up. I press my ear to her door to listen in but don't hear anything. I surmise she must be taking a nap, the days stressful lately. My heart aches seeing her struggle to find a place to fit into. I open the fridge and consider cooking something or taking us out for dinner as a mood lightener. I not there's a wrapped meal already inside, a sticky note with my name on it.
>I unwrap it a bit to notice it's a sort of casserole. I slap it into the microwave and turn it on. I hear the door behind me creak open. I turn my head to see Olivia, kneeling and looking at me through the door.
>"Everything alright dear?" I call to her. Her icy gray eyes peering back at me.
>"Uh, yes?" she's unsure. She opens the door fully and shuffles into the living room, pulling herself up onto the couch. My meal finished I transfer it and myself over next to Olivia. She's fidgeting and struggling to make eye contact.
>"Go ahead Liv." I smile gently and nudge her to share.
>She produces two envelopes, one sealed and one opened. I reach for her to hand them to me. She hesitates deeply and hands me the unopened one. It reads as coming from some studio in Dinofornia.
>"Th-thats a reply from a place I sent some artwork to. They want someone to design a banner." She says, fidgeting still. I glance over to the opened letter but decide she'll tell me when it's time.
>"You wanna do this together?" I ask, holding the letter out to her. She nods and produces a claw, tearing it open.
cont.