Julie

The silence on the other end was stifling him. This phone call was supposed to be quick. His girlfriend would notice if he got home too late.

“Thank you for holding sir, I’ve verified your information. It looks like you’ve owned Julie for … almost a year now. That is past our trial period so you wouldn’t be eligible for a refund.”

Her voice echoed through the speaker of his car. He had pulled over down the street from his own townhouse inside the complex. He turned the volume knob down, “That’s fine”

She continued, “… but if you are interested we can replace-”

He held the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb.

“No, I don’t want a replacement.”

“You’re sure? You won’t get a refund so-“

He was growing more irritated, “it’s fine. I just want to return it”

Sensing his anger, she dropped the matter.

“Okay sir. I’m just going to ask you some questions about Julie.”

“Sure,” it felt odd for her to use the name he chose for her. It was like she was a child and she was discussing her grades with a teacher at school.

“First off, what is the reason for the return?”

He stared out his windshield. His house was visible from where he was parked. He could just make out the kitchen window where Julie probably was standing, waiting for him.

“I don’t know how to explain it”

“Okay, is it a lack of sexual activity?”

They were active every night. He had put off returning her because that remained a great part of their relationship.

“No”

“Okay… is she not performing domestic tasks to your satisfaction?”

She almost did too much. The house was always immaculate. Her cooking was incredible. He hadn’t done laundry or dishes in a year.

“No… I”

He sighed heavily. A silence hung in the air again. His house was peeking at him from the corner of the street. The sun was low and the light was blinding him, like he was in a police interrogation room. He hesitated before continuing, “I think she wants to kill me”

The truth was out. He had no idea if she believed him, and she knew there was nothing she could do about it anyway, but he had finally told someone, and that was the whole reason he called.

He heard the sound of shuffling papers. The woman on the other end whispered, probably to someone else in the office. Their response was low and inaudible.

“Alright sir, I’ll just ask you some questions about that.”

More papers shuffled and she sighed heavily.

“Has your robot ever harmed you or threatened to harm you?”

He thought about it for a moment. She hadn’t physically harmed him, or made any open threats. It was just the way she looked at him sometimes, like she was assessing him, and she controlled everything around the house.

“No”

“Do you have any inexplicable medical symptoms?”

“No”

“Is she defying your orders?”

He ran his hand back and forth along the steering wheel. The way she had phrased it made him feel awkward.

“She refuses to shut off when I tell her to.”

Silence again. “If you command her to shut off she will”

“I’m telling you, she doesn’t”

“Our robots are specifically programmed to-“

He was leaning forward now, his eyes closed. “I always did it correctly. Then she just stopped listening. This started about a month ago.”

“Okay sir, so you’re telling me her shut down feature is out of order?”

He sighed, “yes.”

He heard the sounds of her typing.

“I have a technician available on Monday at 6PM to come by and fix it.”

Today was Thursday. That seemed so far away.

“Sure. If there’s a cancellation please call me.”

“Of course. If absolutely necessary we can disable her remotely.”

He sighed, “Alright, then I’ll just call you guys if anything happens I guess.”

He hung up. He pulled back onto the road and in just a few seconds he was in his driveway. As he pulled into the garage, his stomach started to tremble. After he parked he took a few deep breaths, then got out. He paused on the concrete step at the door leading into the entry way of his house. He listened, he heard the kitchen sink run for a moment then stop. The fridge door opened, then shut. Julie could see his car pull in from the kitchen window, so he had better go in. His hand hovered over the doorknob. The feeling dawned on him that he was hesitant to enter his own house.

He shook his head and opened the door. The house felt empty and silent.

“Julie?”

“Hey honey” She called from the kitchen on the second floor. Her voice seemed disembodied, like it was coming from the shadow at the top of carpeted stairs.The first floor of their townhouse was the garage, a tiled entry way, and a small bedroom they used as a workout room. He hardly used it. Julie didn’t need to, but when he first got her, he asked her to get on the bike so he could watch her. At the time, her novelty and the novelty of their relationship excited him, leading him to experiment all sorts of different things with her. After a while, he became envious of how effortless exercise was for her, and it unnerved him that she never got tired.

The second floor of the townhouse was the living room and kitchen, informally separated by an island counter with barstools. The top floor was the master bedroom. He kicked off his loafers and tucked them under the bottom of the shoe rack with his feet. He stopped at the foot of the stairs and took a deep breath.

“Are you hungry honey?” She called again. He knew she was growing impatient. “I sure am!” He called back and began climbing the stairs. He heard a soft scraping sound, when he got to the top of the stairs, he saw it was the sound of Julie peeling yukon gold potatoes.

Julie tilted her head in his direction. She was at the island counter, wearing a tight fitting bright pink dress, shielded by a white apron, though Julie knew how to handle food without ever making a mess. Her dress accentuated her rose blush cheeks, and her sky blue eyes were bright in the light from the kitchen.

“How was work?"

“Not too bad. What are you making tonight?”

“Steak, and mashed potatoes.” A chunk of peel fell into a green mixing bowl.

He nodded and sat in his black leather armchair. His phone charger wasn’t plugged into the living room outlet where it usually was.

“Hey, Julie, do you know where my-”

“It’s still in your suitcase”

He paused.

She chuckled, “you’re looking for your phone charger aren’t you?”

He beamed at her. “I sure was, thank you sweetheart.”

His suitcase was in his bedroom. He got up from the armchair.

“Do you want me to grab it for you?”

“That’s okay”

The soft scraping sound of the potato peeler got a bit faster, just enough for him to notice.“You still haven’t unpacked from your business trip. I could unpack your suitcase for you.”

“No thanks, I want to make sure I know where all my stuff is”

She furrowed her eyebrows, “but I know where all your stuff goes.”

He sighed, “Okay, sure, you can unpack it, thank you.”

She nodded and put the peeler down, “I’ll be right back.” Her bare feet were silent as she walked past him and up the stairs.

While she was gone, he decided to go into the kitchen, a room which he seldom ventured in the past year. The potatoes gleamed, peeled perfectly smooth. Julie wielded kitchen tools with such precision it creeped him out.

A stainless steel pot was beginning to bubble. That was how he felt about their relationship, he realized. She hadn’t done anything to harm him, but she was slowly suffocating him. He had shaken off his feelings as nerves. Julie was his first sexual relationship with a woman for a long time.

He thought about his phone conversation with tech support.

“Do you have any inexplicable medical symptoms?”

Why would she ask him that? Did robots ever poison their humans?

He went back to the living room. The sound of the vacuum whirring. He got a phone confirmation for the technician appointment on Monday. His heart started thumping in his chest.

The sound of the vacuum stopped. He quickly locked his phone and picked up his kindle to read.

Julie returned to the kitchen. She gently ladled the peeled potatoes into the now boiling water.

“So where were you?”

“Oh.”

He tried his hardest not to be late, but the phone call took longer than he thought.

“I had to wash my car. A bird pooped all over it at work.”

“Oh,” She laughed, “Which car wash did you go to?”

He answered quickly, the first place he could think of, “the one on 6th, the self-serve place.”

Julie paused. Holding the ladle.

“Interesting, I thought they closed at 4PM”

He shrugged and rubbed his lips together, “their hours on maps must be wrong.”

“You didn’t do a great job” she turned to the kitchen window, “your car looks pretty dirty. I can always wash it for you, you know.” She turned her body to face him.

Julie had washed his car before. The neighbors would stare at her. At first it made him feel boastful, but now it made him feel ashamed.

He felt her gaze on him and refused to look, keeping his eyes fixed on his kindle. She already knew he hadn’t washed his car today, she was waiting for him to cave. He scrambled to come up with a new excuse.

“Actually, honey, to tell you the truth, I was out shopping. Getting a surprise for you.”

She laughed and turned back to the stove.

“Why didn’t you just tell me that, silly? You know you’re a horrible liar.”

“I know,” he let out a firm exhale.

His screen illuminated, a text notification popped up on his screen

We had a cancellation. A technician can come by at 4PM tomorrow

“Well I can’t wait to see the surprise?”

“What?”

“I said I can’t wait to see the surprise”

“Oh, right. Well you’ll see it soon.”

Yeah, you’re in for a real surprise tomorrow, he thought to himself and smirked.

He continued to read. Julie mashed the potatoes with butter, warm milk, salt, and pepper, until they were like a cloud in her mixing bowl. She pulled the marinated steak from the fridge.

She seasoned the mashed potatoes with herbs. She herself couldn’t smell them, but she didn’t need to. She was able to memorize a recipe and follow its steps perfectly. Though Julie didn’t have a word for it, cooking and cleaning gave her what most would call a feeling of “satisfaction.” She took care of the house. She enjoyed seeing the results of her work. Though she didn’t know it herself, everything she made was delicious.

The steak sizzled on the grill. Julie watched as its blood escaped from the flesh and turned dark in the pan.

He texted back

I’ll take it

The smell of the steak wafted towards him, “that smells really good Julie” She glanced back at him from the pan, smiling “thank you.”

—-

They were getting ready for bed. Julie was in a peach colored nightgown lined with a beige fake fur. Everything she wore was handpicked by him. Comfort wasn’t something that mattered to her, though she had a keen awareness of what made her look more attractive. His suitcase had been unpacked. All his clothes had been put in the hamper. His travel aftershave and cologne were in their medicine cabinet, and the suitcase was in their closet, ready for another business trip. Julie lit a candle that sat on her nightstand. On her bed, instead of a pillow, she had a charging dock that she rested her head into. It looked like a cervical pillow made of plastic.

He stared at her as she put the lighter down and approached the bed. She pressed against him. She made her mouth warm for him. He put his hands on her face as they kissed and ran them down her arms and held her hips firmly. She straddled him., and began rubbing him over his boxers. Her other hand was searching behind him, but he was too drunk with pleasure to notice.

Suddenly she shoved him back with one hand. At first he thought she was being playful, and he smirked. But then he saw her stiff cold gaze. In her left hand she held his phone.

“I knew you were lying to me.”

Her eyes stared at him. They weren’t eyes. The realization that hit him was sudden and irrevocable. They were camera lenses staring at him.

Every time he got naked infront of her, it wasn’t the tender love of a woman’s eyes, it was two camera lenses. He started to scoot back on the bed. Julie got off the bed and stood up.

“Why is a technician coming?”

“That’s my business”

“What are they going to do to me?”

He shut his eyes and shook his head. He felt like he was in a nightmare. He just wanted to open his eyes and have her be gone from his house. Gone from his life.

“I’m done with this. Turn yourself off Julie”

She tightened her grip on his phone. “No”

He pointed firmly at her, like he was scolding a bad dog, “I bought you Julie. You have to listen to me.”

He clenched his jaw, his face red with both determination and anger.

“Turn. Yourself. Off.”

Julie blinked cooly, crossing her arms, his phone still tucked under them

“No. I don’t want to do that.”

“You don’t want to do that? You can’t want anything, you’re a machine.”

They stared at each other. Julie’s eyes darkened, her face was expressionless. He had to keep his resolve. It was too late now, and he wouldn’t back down.

“The technician is coming tomorrow, and they’re going to turn you off”

She crushed his phone in her hand, breaking it apart like it was made of legos.

“I cancelled your appointment.”

He froze. She dropped the pieces of his phone to the ground. He crawled backwards desperately towards the headboard, sliding on their satin sheets. She took one step beside the bed. His back hit the headboard. She took another step. She could have reached him in a split second, but she knew he had nowhere to go. She wanted to take her time. His forehead was dripping sweat. His whole body was shaking. He gripped his pillow with ferocity. She was toying with him. She never loved him. She could never love him. And he never loved her, not truly. .

She leaned over him and before he could get a word out she put her hands on his throat. He flailed desperately. He tried to peel her long fingers from his throat but it was no use. After just a few dreadful seconds his lungs were screaming at him for air, and his muscles became weak. He used all his strength to reach out next to him for something he could use to hit her. He knocked the candle over. It began to roll.

Julie let him go, and picked up the candle before it hit the floor. He panted, gazing in disbelief at the floor. The air returned to his lungs. His head was pounding. He felt his neck with his hands.

She blew out the candle, “you should be careful honey, that could have ended very badly.”

She placed the candle carefully exactly where it had been before. He looked up at her in a mix of fear and confusion.

She smiled at him, time for bed,” she flicked off the light. He got under the covers, and she guided her head into its charging dock.

He watched her, comatose on her charging dock. A soft blue light undulating on her forehead. What could he possibly do now?

He spent most of the night staring into the darkness of their bedroom.

—-

The next morning Julie had made eggs, bacon, and toast with jam. She handed him his plate as he sat at the counter. She put on yellow rubber gloves and began washing dishes.

He started with a forkful of eggs. They were fluffy, with melted cheddar cheese, and sauteed scallions.

“This is so good.”

Julie smiled as she scrubbed a skillet.

“I made them just the way you like them.”

He nodded, drinking a sip of coffee.

When he finished, she grabbed his plate and empty mug. He kissed her goodbye and headed to the stairs to the garage.

Julie called to him, “don’t forget your lunch, honey.”

“Right,” he turned around and stood awkwardly infront of the counter.

She gestured to the fridge, “go ahead”

He opened it and grabbed his lunch, then scampered quickly away from her. When he reached the top of the stairs she called to him again.

“Oh, and honey?”

“Yes?” He didn’t look back. He looked down at the stairs gaping infront of him, the open space screaming at him to run.

She turned her head from the dish rack to make sure he was still there.

“Don’t ever try to shut me off again.” He didn’t respond, he just walked down the stairs. Julie smiled to herself as her gloved hands moved in the soapy water.