Where Silence Has Lease

Spring has arrived and Aidan has good news.

“Cora! My publisher just called, my latest novel has been nominated for an award!”

“That’s great news, sweetie! We should celebrate when I get home from work tonight.”

While Cora is at work, Aidan gets a call.

“Zane, hey! What’s up, we haven’t heard from you in weeks? Zane? Zane, what’s wrong? Are you drunk? But it’s like noon! Where? Yeah… of course, I can be there in an hour. Hang in there, man.”

---

Meanwhile at work, Cora has a major breakthrough. She has finally figured out how to extend the range of the satellites.

She was going to tell her supervisor, but he seems… busy.

So instead, Cora installs the upgrade in the satellite herself, and takes it outside for a test run.

All there’s left to do now is wait for a response.

---

As Aidan arrives at the Freezer Bunny Club, the bartender immediately points him to Zane, who is slumped over the bar.

“Zane? Hey, buddy, I’m here.”

“Aidan? Layla’s gone. She left me, man.”

“Dude, you look like shit. What happened? Did you guys break up?”

“It’s done. We’re over. She lied to me.”

“We’ve been fighting a lot, lately. It seemed like no matter what I did, Layla was just getting more and more unhappy. Finally, I got fed up and demanded to know what her problem was.”

“She told me that she wanted kids. I think I could have handled anything but that.”

“She explained that she thought she would be fine with us never having children, but lately she had realised that it was something she wanted. Needed.”

“She admitted that she had been hoping to get pregnant by accident. Or that I would change my mind. But as time went on, she became desperate. So she secretly stopped taking her birth control a few months ago, but nothing had happened, not yet.”

“I was completely stunned.”

“That’s when I told her that I had a vasectomy. Years ago, before we even met. Because I didn’t want to risk ever having kids.”

“She got really angry with me. Yelled at me for never telling her that I was sterile, especially when we had that pregnancy scare in university. But back then I was worried the vasectomy had failed and didn’t want to discuss it with her.”

“I told her that I have always been up front about never wanting children. Whether I was physically able to actually have them or not was completely irrelevant.”

“But she still felt like I had been lying to her. That’s when I really lost it.”

“I yelled at her for trying to get pregnant without my knowledge or consent. I think I called her every bad name I could think of.”

“Then I just… broke. She tried to talk me down and apologised. For everything.”

“Finally, we ended up trying to make up, but something had changed between us.”

“So we decided to end things, right then and there. She moved out the next day.”

“My life’s over, man. What do I do now? How can I ever trust anyone again?”

“Zane, listen. That’s really shitty of her. You didn’t deserve that.”

“But this doesn’t mean your life is over.”

“Zane, pull yourself together. Think of your family, your career. Your future. Get up, I’ll take you home.”

“Come on. We can’t have San Myshuno’s best lawyer out of commission. Who will then help all those rich people through their divorces?”

---

When Cora comes home, Aidan tells her about Zane and Layla.

“… and then I walked him back to his apartment and put him to bed. I also called his sister and asked her to keep an eye on him for a few days, she lives in San Myshuno as well.”

“It’s so sad. I hope he’ll be okay. And Layla too.”

“Yeah, the whole thing really made me think. Do you still want kids? I do. But I guess we should make sure we haven’t changed our minds.”

“Yeah… I do want kids. But I would prefer to get married first, and I have been waiting since Winterfest for you to pull that ring out of your pocket.”

“Cora! You… you know about the ring?”

“You forgot it in your suit. I’ve tried to pretend I didn’t suspect anything… but I am honestly getting a bit impatient.”

Aidan bursts out laughing. “And here I was so nervous about it!”

“Oh, and I told my parents about finding the ring. Dad then told me you actually asked for his permission.”

“Honestly, you’re such a dork. I should really say no on principle! Just because you asked dad.”

Aidan is laughing too hard to respond.

“Oh, Cora.” Aidan wipes the tears of laughter from his eyes. “I’m sorry that I’ve apparently left you hanging for so long.”

“So, as you have apparently known all along, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you…”

They’re both startled when a loud noise can be heard outside. Immediately, the power goes out.

The trailer is completely dark. A faint humming can be heard outside.

“Oh well,” Aidan jokes, “I guess we’ll have to postpone this?”

Cora giggles.

“I’ll go check the transformer. You’re not getting out of it this easily.”

“Hurry up before I change my mind!” Aidan calls after her.

As Cora reaches the dim sidewalk, a beam of light suddenly illuminates her.

“Uhm, Aidan?”

“Aidan, come quick!“

“Aidan?”

Aidan comes outside just in time to see Cora shoot upwards in a beam of light.

“CORA!”

The humming fades and the power comes back on just as Aidan runs outside.

Cora is gone.

“Cora…”