Programmed for Love

by Lyonne Riley

“Good bye, Lela,” says D. I’ll never get tired of his voice. It has a quality to it I just can’t put into words, something almost ethereal. There’s an inflection to it that isn’t quite an accent, but isn’t not an accent. It’s uniquely his.

D holds me even tighter, and all I want is to stay like this, wrapped up in him, until the sun explodes and we’re all wiped away like we never existed at all.

“What the fuck?” Jez asks as we come to a stop in front of the elevator. “What crazy bullshit did I just see? Are you fucking the ship android, Talbot?” “No, we were just playing doctor,” I say. “Dumbass.”

He takes a step towards me and leans down to my ear. “Love is not what I thought it would be,” he whispers. “So I simply did not recognize it. I am sorry for that. I am sorry it took me so long to understand.” Then, in front of everyone, he kisses my hair. It’s only after he’s gone that his words finally register. He didn’t know what loving someone meant until he loved me.

“I’ve been inside you, but I never thought you’d be inside me,” he says.

“I thought love would be some sudden strike of realization, like a bullet. But it’s not. It builds and grows, until you cannot imagine living without the person you love at your side.”

“I never want to be without you, Lela. I don’t think I could stand it. If that is not love, I don’t know what would be.”