Sarah came down the steps and turned into the kitchen. She saw Jeff standing at the counter, looking in a box. His forehead was wrinkled. She smiled.
“Whatcha got there?” asked Sarah.
Jeff looked up and then back at the box. “It’s a timer.”
“It is? What for?”
“I don’t know. It isn’t attached to anything.”
“So, no bomb?”
“No bomb.”
Sarah waited a moment, then asked, “Who sent it?”
“I don’t know. There was no return address on the box. It was just sitting on the top step.”
“You didn’t have to sign for it?”
“No, I just found it out there.” Jeff waved his hand in the general direction of the front door.
“There’s less than a minute left.”
“What?” asked Sarah. “Well, I guess you’ll find out soon.”
“It better not fucking blow up. I just cleaned in here,” said Jeff.
“I don’t think it will blow up.”
“Oh? What do you know about it?”
“Let’s see what happens.”
From the box, Sarah heard a quick sequence of beeps. Then Jeff’s face contorted into genuine confusion.
“I love you?”
“I love you, too,” said Sarah.
“No, the LCDs now spell I love you.” He showed her. The LCDs were displaying, in red, “I LUV U”.
Sarah watched Jeff. She was looking for an expression of familiarity or recognition. Nothing. His forehead wasn’t wrinkled anymore, but he still looked confused.
Annoyed, she sighed deeply and said, “It was a countdown to the anniversary of the day and time we met.” She went upstairs.
“Hey!” he called after her.
