He lifts the can of Sharpies. “Well, we can start with black, which could represent the time right before we met, because our lives were dark and colorless.”

I mean, that tracks for the beginning of a beautiful love story.

“Then,” he says, getting more excited, “maybe yellow for happiness, because that’s when we met. Then glow it up from there, going from yellow to orange to green.”

“Why green? Why not red?”

“Because red I think screams anger and hurt.”

“Oh, I assumed red because we were…you know…red-hot.”

He raises his brow. “Red-hot, huh? You saying we have a steamy sex life?”

I feel my cheeks heat. “Well, you did say you found me attractive, so I just assumed. And also, you mentioned it the other day during our therapy session.”

He nods. “Well, you assumed right, but that’s why I think green would be best for that period in our marriage, because green represents wealth, and that doesn’t need to be wealth in a money sense but a surplus of wealth in the mental capacity. Wealth in love. Wealth in marriage. Wealth in joy and happiness.”

Okay, did he take a crash course on marriage counseling before he came here? He’s so profound, something I did not expect in the least.

“Yeah, I guess I can understand that.”

“Then I think we switch back to yellow and start mixing up yellow, orange, red, and green until we get to brown, which is where we are now.”

“Huh,” I say, thinking about it. “That’s actually a really good representation.”

“Thank you,” he says and then hands me back the ball. “Do you want to do the honors? I can hand you the markers.”

“Sure, that works,” I reply.

Getting to work, he hands me a black marker, and I start coloring in a circle at the very top.

“So who was that guy who said hi to you when we got here? Is that Chad?”

“It is,” I answer, focusing on making the ball look nice. “How could you tell?”

“He has weasel written all over him.”

“Right? See, I told you.”

“You did. I’ll be sure to avoid friendship with him at all costs.”

“Such a good husband.”

“Hey, according to the rules, we’re not saying nice things like that to each other just yet. Remember, we’re in a cold phase right now. We’re not frozen, just in our cold era.”

“Right, sorry.” I straighten out my lips, attempting not to smile, but it’s hard.

When I catch him glancing at me, he says, “Stop. You’re not supposed to be smiling.”

“I’m sorry.” I let out a low chuckle. “This is all just so…stupid.”

“Yes, but remember, you’re the one who got us into this, so don’t be the one who screws it up. You can’t blow up our spot.”