Press enter or click to view image in full size Image generated using AI Steve started staying later without planning to. At first, he used to leave as soon as his friend did. Then it became helping stack chairs before leaving. Then standing near the railing for another ten minutes after everyone else was gone. Now, sometimes he didn’t notice how late it had become until Rachel started switching off lights one by one. That Saturday, the terrace was louder than usual. Someone had brought homemade tacos. Two people were debating whether old romance films were better because they were slower or because people were more patient back then. Sandra was in the middle of arguing with three different people at once while writing notes dramatically into her notebook. “You can’t just remove emotional tension from stories,” she complained. “You say emotional tension like it’s oxygen,” someone replied. “It is.” Steve laughed quietly from his chair near the railing. Sandra immediately pointed at him. “See?…