No Badge

Ash saw Delilah waiting by the river steps and wanted to kiss her before either of them could invent a useful question.

She had seen him too. She put her phone away, turned toward him and smiled without the cautious second look that usually followed. He forgot the route he had chosen for their walk. There had been a route. It seemed an extraordinary use of his afternoon now.

“You’re early,” she said.

“So are you.”

“I’ve had an unstructured day. It’s done terrible things to my punctuality.”

She was wearing the blue coat. The missing button was still missing. He liked that she had arrived with it undone, as if she expected the evening to stay warm enough for her.

“Did you finish?” he asked.

“My contract ended today. I handed over the queue and returned the pass.”

“How do you feel?”

“As if I should be checking an…