Chapter 5 / 51 · 2 min

Sushi

At a sushi bar, the sushi usually doesn’t take long to arrive. But our California roll took forever.

The moment it came, I turned to Nefertiti.

“Do you know where the California roll comes from?”

I expected her usual liveliness. The way she used to guess.

“I would’ve said California, but now I’m thinking somewhere else… Japan?”

But Nefertiti just looked gloomy.

“I don’t know,” she said.

“A Japanese chef in Vancouver made it first. If you’re not bored, want me to tell you the history?”

She stared out the window, empty-eyed.

“Can we talk about something else?”

I went quiet for three seconds.

Right after the breakup, I knew I would never get back what I had lost. Once a melody breaks, it never sounds the same again. Even with Nefertiti back, somehow it felt like I hadn’t really gotten her back at all.

“You’re behaving a little strangely.”

“I don’t know. I’m not the same person anymore.”

“You love sushi so much, but you’re not even eating? Want to go somewhere else? An antique bookshop, maybe? I kept promising to take you, even before we were together. We never got to go. Want to go today?”

“I don’t like bookshops.”

Nefertiti, saying this?

I stared at her in disbelief.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that? I’m not the same person anymore.”

This time I lost my patience.

“Ugh. I know you’re not the same person, but you don’t have to mention it every fucking time. I paid millions for you.”

I got up and walked out of the sushi bar.

The moment I was outside, I called the clone service.

“I want a refund.”

“Sir, we’re extremely sorry about this model. Before you cancel your order, would you reconsider? We have four more clones of Miss Nefertiti. Would you like to try them?”

I made the hardest decision of my life.

“No. No more. This time, I want to move on.”