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“Palmer, what are we even doing?” Anna asked.

“You told me you needed space,” Palmer reminded her.

“I didn’t expect you to flee across the country to a place I hadn’t even heard of until you mentioned that’s where you were going.”

“I didn’tflee. I told you months ago I needed a vacation. We were supposed to plan something together. Then, you asked for an open relationship.”

“An open relationship, not a breakup. I could have gone with you.”

“I didn’t want you to, Anna. I wanted to go somewhere on my own.”

“I know. You wanted to think.”

“What am I supposed to do when my girlfriend says she wants to sleep with other people? You wanted space. I gave it to you.”

“I’m just trying to figure things out, Palmer.”

“So am I,” she explained.

“I know we agreed not to talk about what we do with other people, but are you really there for a story, Palm? Or did you meet someone? I know it’s not fair for me to ask. I just–”

“You’re right: it’s not fair. I told you I’d agree to the whole open thing while you sort through whatever’s going on with you, but only if you don’t tell me what you do with other women, and I don’t have to tell you what I do with other women, either.”

“So, there have been others?”

“You’re joking, Anna.”

“I’m sorry. I know it’s not fair. I just need to know, Palm.”

“Why now? Why do you need to know, all of a sudden, if I’ve slept with someone else?” Palmer paused as she realized. “Because youhave, haven’t you?”

There was a silence. That was how Palmer knew her girlfriend of over a year had slept with another woman.

“You said you didn’t want to know.”

“I was hoping there would be nothingtoknow. I thought you were going through some kind of a phase.”

Anna was six years younger than her. When they’d met, she was just out of college, and Palmer was her first serious girlfriend out of school. Anna had asked for some time to explore things, and Palmer had thought she needed that exploring because of her age and lack of experience. She’d only slept with one other woman outside of Palmer, so it made sense she’d be interested in searching, but that hadn’t stopped Palmer from being hopeful that Anna wouldn’t actually sleep with anyone else and would come back to her and they would re-enter the monogamous part of their relationship.

“I met her at work, Palm.”

“Are you two dating, or is it just sex?” Palmer asked.

“We’re dating,” Anna replied.

“Does she know about me?”

“She knows I’m in an open relationship, yeah.”

“And does she care?”

“She said it’s fine while we’re seeing where this thing goes but that eventually, she’d like it to just be the two of us if it gets that far.”

“You asked if I’d found someone because you were hoping Ihad, weren’t you? If I’d met someone, you’d be off the hook; you could end things with me and not feel guilty about it.”

“That’s not–”

“Anna, let’s just call this what it is, okay? We tried. We were together for nine months before this whole open-relationship thing. That’s not a bad run.”