Chapter 3: What Tomorrow Brings

As I made my way towards the kitchen I realized that I was tired. The hot shower sapped most of the energy I had left after work, but I sure was hungry. Once again, Latona had started dinner.

"Well, so much for helping with dinner." I say in a sarcastic tone.

"Smells wonderful though!"

"Ah! Oh, apologies, Master..it was a simple recipe so I figured I'd just do it myself. Plus you're probably tired so I didn't want to put you through even more work."

"It's just spaghetti, Lat, it's no trouble at all."

"Very well, but I'm all done here so I suppose you can help out by serving yourself!" She says, handing me a plate.

"With pleasure."

I serve myself a few scoops of spaghetti and make my way to the dining table, Latona follows suit.

We both sat down and began eating, our dining "room" wasn't very impressive. Despite being connected to the living room and kitchen, it felt quite roomy. It was dimly lit as well, only being brightened by the small incandescent light in-between the kitchen and dining table and a bit by the television in the far corner.

Latona is the first to break the silence.

"Mmm" she gulps. "How was work, Master?"

"Well, I had a talk with my boss, he was very understanding of my request actually, but long story short, I'll have all next week for the trip!"

Suddenly Latona beams with delight.

"That's wonderful! I'm glad it worked out so well! I'll start making a list of what to pack tomorrow!"

"Don't stress too much about it! Leave some work for me, I can't have you do all the work ya know."

"Mhmm, of course, of course." She smiles.

Several moments of silence followed after our short conversation, occasionally broken by the sounds of forks against plates and the dialogue on the television.

"Hey, Lat.." I ask, while making circular motions with my fork into my plate.

"I've been thinking...maybe I am ready to get back into dating."

Latona suddenly stops chewing for a few seconds.

"I know that sounds out of character for me...but maybe I should try to get serious about finding a partner, ya know?"

She wipes down her mouth. "You know I'll always support your choices, Master."

"I just think that it's been long enough since…last time."

"But do you really think yourself truly healed from her?"

I sigh.

"Do you still think about her, Master?"

It was rough to admit it to myself but I sometimes still think about my ex. Latona wasn't oblivious to this fact either. Even though I realized now how much of a negative weight she was on me and on Latona as well, she did make me quite happy. However, she wasn't very fond of Latona for some reason. She would ask me to send her to another room while we ate or did anything, and unfortunately, I obeyed. Yet, after she left me, Latona did not hesitate to help me despite all the times I've left her alone.

I hesitated to respond to her.

"You should be very careful, Master. Jumping into something you're not ready for can have consequences, you wouldn't want to hurt someone, correct?"

"N-No, not at all."

I couldn't help but to feel a bit speechless. It's true, I didn't want to burden anyone with my issues but I still think I am ready to move on...right? I'm not sure what to think anymore.

It was silent again. The mood stiffened. Then Latona raised her head.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"About what?"

Her eyes dipped. "About her?"

"Sigh, what is there to talk about?" I say as I spin my fork into the last noodles.

"Judging by your reaction, plenty it seems." She says giggling.

"You know anything there is to talk about has already been talked about."

"It always helps to talk about it again."

I stayed silent, even if I did have something to talk about, I didn't want to. In my mind, the sooner I forget about that relationship, the better.

Dinner continued in silence. I offered to handle the dishes that night while Latona cleaned up the kitchen of cans and boxes used in preparation for tonight's meal while also putting any leftovers in the fridge.

I look at the clock…9pm. I was tired but I didn't want to turn in yet. I made my way to the living room portion of the apartment. The TV was on playing some sitcom from the 90s, the kinda stuff people just put on for background noise. I sat down on the couch and started looking through the guide to see if anything interesting was on.

"Not sleepy, Master? It's getting late."

"Hmm? Nah, I wanna stay up a bit longer, I'm not that sleepy."

"Was it due to dinner earlier? I apologize if I brought up unwanted feelings.." She said placing her hand on her chest and dipping her head.

"No no! Not at all..!" I said assuringly. Although she did give me a lot to think about. My life wasn't exactly the most organized thing I own.

"Maybe I'll just watch a movie before bed." I say as I flip through the listings. "There's this one movie I've been meaning to rewatch, but I don't think you'd like it."

Latona gracefully hovers and sits on the spot on the couch next to me. "I don't mind Master, who knows, maybe I will like it!" She says smiling.

Despite our bond, Latona was very much her own person, with her own tastes and genres she liked to indulge in. Since we grew up together, she learned to read and write while watching me do my homework. At one point, my mom noticed this and began making copies of my school worksheets and gave one to Latona. She really enjoyed reading books as well, particularly slice of life. I was more into sci-fi and fantasy. Despite making the effort to watch stuff I liked, she found most of it uninteresting and wouldn't become attached to the characters or story.

"Hmm, well alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." I said playfully, shifting into a more comfortable position. I press play and the movie begins with a spaceship being pursued by an even larger menacing looking ship above a dusty, orange planet.

About an hour later, the characters were now aboard a large space facility surrounded by enemies shooting lasers at them while attempting to escape. Suddenly, I felt something move to my side, then the next moment I felt a weight on my left shoulder. I turn my head to see Latona leaning on my shoulder, well asleep.

"Lat?" I said quietly, on the chance she was asleep so I wouldn't wake her. There was no response except for the subtle shifting caused by her breathing.

There was still about an hour left on the film, but it was half past 10pm and I had work tomorrow. I turned the TV off and methodically moved so Latona's head wouldn't suddenly slump and wake her. I lifted her up from the sofa and carried her to her bedroom that was halfway through the hallway. This wasn't the first time she needed help getting to bed, she had fallen asleep several times on the sofa waiting for me during days I worked late. Despite being a few inches shorter than me, she was lighter than most humans, my job as a stocker had given me most of my experience, however.

I gently placed her on her bed and left the room, quietly closing her door. I went back into the kitchen to turn off the dining table light and made my way to my bedroom. There was faint light coming through due to the moonlight. At night, the moon was our only source of light in this town. During cloudy or rainy nights, the town was nearly pitch black. I changed into my pajamas and fumbled into bed, I hadn't realized I was fairly sleepy. I made sure to send a text to my mom telling her I was safe at home, though I am pretty sure I owe her a call by now and also let her know I'd be going on a trip as well. Speaking of, where would the trip even be…?