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It was Abby. While looking at Vanessa she pointed at Megan.

“She didn’t trap you in a boring conversation about something like how one of those Star Wars movies would have been so much better without the Ewoks, did she?”

Vanessa turned to Megan.

“You don’t like the Ewoks?” she asked in a wounded voice. “They’re so cute!”

“They’re fucking annoying!” Megan said with a laugh.

Abby just rolled her eyes.

Chapter 8

Megan had to admit she missed this feeling.

Driving back west on the 78 en route to Abby’s place to drop her off, Megan was enjoying the excited butterflies in her stomach and that buzzing feeling of anticipation that was like a nervous energy coursing through her veins. Goodness, it had been too long.

She wasn’t even aware she was humming to herself until Abby said, “God, you’re making me sick!”

“Hmm? What?” Megan inquired.

“Are you even going to be able to keep yourself under control until your date with Vanessa tomorrow?”

“It’s not a date,” Megan corrected.

Abby looked at her, confused.

“Well, what is it, then?”

Megan shrugged.

“It’s just…We’re just getting together to hang out, that’s all. But not like a date.”

“Oh my God!” Abby gasped theatrically. “You little tramps! You’re just using each other for sex!”

Megan took one hand off the steering wheel and smacked Abby’s leg. Abby should be one to talk, the queen of one-night stands.

“It’s not like that!” she protested.

But it most probably is.

Megan continued.

“Vanessa and I are probably just gonna hang out here and there occasionally but we’re not putting labels on anything. Neither one of us wants a relationship. She’s got a business to run and in case you’ve forgotten, I’m eventually moving to New York.”

“No, I haven’t forgotten,” Abby said sullenly. “I’m still bummed about it.”

This time Megan patted Abby’s leg gently.

Last month, Lucy Whitaker, the CEO of BeachSoft, announced plans to open a New York City office. The company was growing incredibly fast and Lucy wanted to take advantage of the vast pool of I.T. talent in the Big Apple. And Lucy had personally asked Megan to head BeachSoft NY, as vice-president of operations. It would make Megan an incredibly powerful executive in a Fortune 500 company before her thirtieth birthday, and was the kind of career move most people twice her age could only dream of.

And Megan was super excited about the chance to live in New York again, a city she fell in love with when she attended NYU for four years. A drawback, of course, was leaving behind friends like Abby. She and Abby had grown up together in La Jolla and had been through all the tribulations of being gay teenagers together. Megan knew she was going to miss her friend terribly.

“Anyway, tell me something,” Abby said. “What was all that talk you and Vanessa were doing about zombies and, what was it, T2 or something?”

Megan giggled.

“You never saw World War Z?”