Yes to Leo

Maya set her bag down by the door and let Leo pull her into another brief, warm hug. She returned it easily, resting her cheek against his shoulder for a moment before stepping back with a bright, genuine-looking smile.

“It went really well,” she said, still a little breathless from the walk up the stairs. “Better than I expected, actually.”

Leo guided her toward the sofa, clearly eager. “Tell me everything. What did they say?”

Maya sat beside him, tucking one leg underneath herself the way she always did when she was about to share something exciting. She kept her voice light and steady as she began.

“David was there with a couple of the board members, and Sarah from the agency brought two people from her team. They sat us down and walked us through the whole campaign. It’s big, Leo. Television commercials—thirty-second ones and shorter fifteen-second versions. Large billboards in major cities. In-store displays across the supermarket chain. And a series of short social-media mini-stories, like little fifteen- or thirty-second clips of us doing everyday things together.”

She paused, glancing at him to make sure he was following, then continued.

“Sarah got really excited when she talked about the theme. She said the idea is that a loving, romantic couple already gives each other this feeling of being cared for and secure—someone who simply shows up and looks after you. And the store can offer that same feeling. Like the supermarket becomes an extension of that care. It knows what you need, it’s reliable, it’s there for you the same way a good partner is. That’s why they liked us so much. They kept saying the chemistry they saw in the aisle the other day already felt real.”

Leo listened intently, his expression soft and proud. Maya felt a small twist in her chest at the look on his face, but she pushed it down and kept going.

“They mentioned they were still speaking to a few other couples across the country, but David and Sarah both said we were at the top of their list. Then Sarah started talking about what could come next if the first wave does well. They might expand into at-home scenes—us planning a shopping list together at the kitchen table, that kind of thing. One story about ordering through the app and picking it up in store, and another about ordering through the app and getting a home delivery. Bringing the bags inside, putting things away together. All very ordinary and warm.”

She gave a small, almost shy laugh.

“They talked contracts and fees and provisional filming dates. Everything’s still to be signed, but if it goes ahead they’re looking at shooting in about a month. Three or four days of filming it might mean going to a store on the other side of the country and maybe one or two simple lifestyle settings. Sarah said the more natural and connected we look, the stronger the whole campaign will be.”

Leo reached over and took her hand, squeezing it gently.

“Maya, that’s incredible. I’m so proud of you. Both of you, really—but especially you. You must have been amazing in there.”

Maya smiled back at him, the expression open and happy on the surface. Inside, the memory of the last two and a half hours in Mike’s apartment, the way she had sounded—sat quietly beneath the words she was giving Leo. She kept her voice bright and her hand relaxed in his.

“It felt good,” she said simply. “Like it could actually happen. Like the practice we did to get comfortable really helped. We may have to keep up the practice so we don’t lose the connection we have.”

She left the sentence there, letting Leo hear only the version that fitted the story he already believed, while the fuller truth remained unspoken between them on the sofa.