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“Yeah. Let’s talk more about thisafterI talk to Ami.”

“She’s going to–”

“Whatever she says or wants doesn’t matter. I just need to talk to her to get her out of my house. Then, you and I can talk on the way to work about whateverthismeans.” She dropped her hand from Felicity’s cheek.

“I kind of thought you were going to kiss me there for a second.” Felicity blushed a little.

“I don’t kiss a womanbeforethe first date.”

Felicity nodded and said, “I’ll wait in the car, then.”

“Okay. I’ll be right out.” The other Rosie reached for and squeezed Felicity’s hand before adding, “Tonight? If you have plans, maybe cancel them if you can,” she suggested.

Felicity smiled wide and nodded.

RealRosie saw black again. One second. Two seconds. Three. She was back in her original position, with her hand on the lid, about to close it. She looked around. Ami turned back toward her. Felicity was gone. The other version of herself was gone, too. What the hell had just happened?

“What’s that?” Ami asked.

“Uh…” Rosie looked down at the device and quickly slammed the lid. “Nothing. Work.”

“Ah,” Ami said as she walked farther into the kitchen and sat onthe same stool Felicity had just vacated. “So, can we talk, or do you have to run?”

“Talk?”

Rosie’s head was still spinning, and she couldn’t focus on anything. Her heart was thundering in her chest.

“About us,” Ami said.

“Us?”

“Yes, us, Rosie.”

“Whataboutus?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment here, but I thought we had something very real. I moved in here. We talked about getting married.”

“We did, yes,” she said. “But you broke up with me.”

“Not because I stopped loving you,” Ami revealed. “I never have. I just needed someone who could be present, Rosie.”

“I still have the same career I’ve always had, Ami. I don’t plan on quitting anytime soon.”

“I know. I wouldn’t ask you to do that. I just feel like I’m a different person than I was two years ago.”

“How so?”

Rosie picked up the briefcase and carried it over to the kitchen table, where she sat it on a chair and pushed the chair in so that nothing and no one could accidentally press that button.

“I was co-dependent. I think we can both agree on that. I had a relationship with someone right before you that wasn’t exactly healthy, and I think I transferred some of that onto you. Not that I want to have you gone more than you’re here because I love you, and I want to be around you, but I wasn’t supportive when I should have been.”

“You knew I’d be gone as often as I am when we met, Ami.”

“I did. You’re right. But it’s different, experiencing it.”

“I get it.”

“Can we just maybe, I don’t know, try again? Grab coffee or something and talk more? See if there’s something still here? I haven’t been with anyone since you. I’ve been working a lot on myself, and I’m freelance now, Rosie. I don’t work for that soul-sucking corporation anymore.”