‘What?’ I asked.
‘You just called himSexZero Zero.’
‘I did not. Did I? Oh my God, I did.’
‘Flightbird SIX Zero Zero, this is City Tower, apologies for using the wrong call sign there. I didn’t mean to . . . it was . . . I . . . it’s not like I was thinking about sex, or anything. It was just a mistake, a mispronunciation, sorry.’
‘A mistake?’ he asked after a pause.
‘Definitely a mistake. One big mistake. Sex, it was a mistake.’
‘Copy, City Tower. Loud and clear.So loud and so very clear.Flightbird SIX Zero Zero. Can I have a weather report?’
‘Wind two fifty at ten knots.’
‘Wind two fifty at ten knots, Flightbird SIX Zero Zero.’
I watched his plane land on my screen, not in real life this time. I couldn’t look at his plane today, for some reason.
‘Flightbird Six Zero Zero, this is City Tower, please vacate left onto Alpha taxiway and contact Ground Control on zero two zero point six.’
‘Vacated left onto Alpha taxiway and contact Ground Control on zero two zero point six. Flightbird Six Zero Zero.’
No goodbyes, no banter. I had a deep feeling of regret in my stomach.
Christmas was coming. It was splattered across the entire world for all to see. Every shop, lamp post, billboard and poster in the parking lot told you Christmas was on its way. Snowflakes and Santa faces and lights that twinkled. There were more cars on the streets, more people in the malls and more planes in the sky.
Andrew and I hadn’t been very chatty in the weeks following the wedding, and the tension on the radio between us continued. With Christmas just around the corner, we’d communicated once via WhatsApp to iron out our respective arrangements. But other than that, nothing. Despite adhering to my regular routine, which I liked, I felt miserable. Lonely even. I never felt lonely. Even things like walking my dogs and Pokémon were no longer making me happy.
‘You’re off tonight,’ Sheila said to me.
‘You’ve never lost to Zane before,’ Orion added.
The table was looking at me expectantly. I put my cards down and held my head in my hands.
‘I had sex with my fake boyfriend,’ I said. No one gasped in shock and horror. This is what I liked about being in a crowd of neurodivergent people: we said facts out loud as they were, as they came to us. And most of us here didn’t filter them either.
‘Mmmm.’ Zane rubbed his hands together thoughtfully. ‘Sex always complicates things.’
‘That’s exactly what he said!’ I looked at him as he reached over for Sheila’s hand and pulled it into his. The gesture was so odd, and not at all expected, that it took me a while to register.
‘That’s exactly what happened when Sheila and I had sex, anyway.’ They smiled at each other and I saw it!
‘Are you guys . . .’
‘Yes! We’re together.’ Sheila put her arm around his shoulder. ‘Turns out he was a better fake boyfriend than I ever anticipated.’
‘I knew I would be a good fake boyfriend,’ Zane said. ‘Although, I actually don’t think people can be fake, when it comes to dating. I don’t think you can pretend to be fake with someone in those kinds of situations – romantic situations. Feelings inevitably come into play.’
‘What do you mean?’ I asked.
‘It’s like when your opponent plays bosses’ orders and takes one of your Pokémon off the bench and slams it into the active spot.’
I paused to contemplate this.
‘Clearly, you have feelings for him,’ Orion chirped up. Everyone at the table nodded in unison, even silent Abe.
‘How do you know?’ I asked.
