I haven't thought of that phrase in a long time. It's something an ex used to say when she misplaced something. So, when I see Anita looking for the mouse for her laptop, flinging pillows and books aside as she ransacked the living room, the first thing that pops into my head is, "Aliens took it." That hurts - looking at the woman I love, but thinking of her in the context of someone who had damaged me so deeply. My lips freeze as I try to make the words. Down the rabbit hole of recollection I fall, and my face becomes transparent.
"Hey, where are you?" she asks gently, abandoning her search.
Snapping back to the present, I start to answer, to explain the whole scene and the long story behind alien thieves, but that's not my life anymore, and I'm grateful that it isn't. I've fought long and hard to accept the difference between learning and dwelling painfully, and that story would just drive troglodytic me underground. Instead, I let her face, and the love inherent therein, fill my world. "Do me a favor?" I ask.
"Sure," she replies, concerned. To ask is abnormal. Our love is unconditional, and we care for each other eagerly and willingly. There are no favors, only tasks performed with loving glee.