For our sixth date, I was the one who suggested we meet at the restaurant by her house, because I knew she wanted me to come up to her apartment afterward. It all happened just as she had hoped, including wine and dessert. And when we got into bed, I already knew what she liked. I gently nibbled her ear and pressed up against her once it was over. The following day she thought sex with me was probably the best she had ever had. Which was really nice to hear because I had always suspected I wasn’t very good at it, but I admit the probably bummed me out. Not that I had time to obsess about it, because not a moment later she thought she loved me, like, for real. And I smiled, because it was the first time since the eighth grade that someone had said that to me. I was excited, but at the same time I had this niggling thought that maybe she was about to take it back. That she was overreacting and it wasn’t actually love. But I told myself that as long as I had the radio, that would never happen. I’d make sure to do everything exactly as she wanted, and she’d never leave. Then I listened closely to every thought she had about me. Ninety-three percent were positive, and only seven percent were negative. It made me happy. Even Benny was happy for me, said he always thought we’d hit it off. That we’d probably have good-looking children. Which was another thing that made me happy, because it was something I enjoyed thinking about. But a few hours later, I picked up his station.

Fucking-slouch-doesn’t-even-do-the-bare-minimum-anymore-takes-a-two-hour-lunch-break-every-day-and-for-someone-like-that-not-that-he-had-other-options-such-an-ugly-ass-couple-God-help-them.

Around noon that day, I told Nurit I could only take a thirty-minute lunch break. She said she had the feeling something was bothering me, and I told her about Benny. That I heard him talking about us with a customer. Nurit smiled, said she couldn’t care less what people thought about us, and hugged me tightly. I felt like she was my anchor in this world, and really wanted to tell her about the radio. So I told her I read an article about some scientist in South Korea who was working on a device that could read minds. She was quiet for a while, then said it sounded a bit sad, everyone knowing what’s going on in your head, not having a moment to yourself.