Page 87 of Gemini

Without missing a beat, I closed the distance between us. We hugged as if we were old friends who hadn’t seen each other in years. It had been over a year now to be exact since everything happened at the church, but it felt like forever. As I pulled away, I gaped at him, still stunned to see him standing before me. “Where have you been?”

“Long story,” he said. “Traveling mostly. First to New York, then over to the West.”

“For work?”

“A little bit.” He glanced at the twins. “Research mostly.”

“I’d love to hear about it.”

“I can’t stay long unfortunately."

I could see he was tired. I wondered when was the last time he slept. “I understand. I’m…I’m glad to see you.”

He smiled. “Me too. I admit I didn’t expect to see you again this way. Especially with the twins after everything…”

“Yeah, a lot more has happened since you’ve been gone.”

His smile dropped a little. “I heard.”

I looked over at Leslie who shrugged. “Kind of filled him in.”

Turning back to Micheal, I crossed my arms. “It’s complicated.”

He nodded. “It always is.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “They are treating you alright though?”

Leslie muttered something, and I smiled. “Yeah. Real well.”

He squeezed my shoulder before dropping his hand. “Good.”

“Will you be back in the city for a while?”

“A little while. I’ll be teaching for a semester come fall at the university downtown.”

“That’s great. I’m working at the coroner’s office not far from there if you ever want to stop by.”

“I’d love to. I’ll be in contact more now that I’m here. If anything comes up and you need help.”

“Thank you.”

“I promised I’d stay for at least one drink so how about we have a toast.”

“I’ll grab drinks,” Leslie said.

We took a seat with Dom as Leslie disappeared. I started to ask Micheeal more about what he was researching and teaching at the university when my phone chimed. I slid it out of the hiding spot in my bra and frowned at an unknown number that was Face-Timing me. I showed the phone to them.

“Wrong number?” Dom signed.

“Maybe. But I never had that happen on a FaceTime. Maybe it’s a friend whose number I lost.”

“I think you should take it,” Micheal said. “Just a hunch.”

As I tapped accept, a black screen came up but I could only hear ruffling in the background.

“Hello?”

The screen moved and I caught a dark room with shelves being filled with books. “Ah, sorry, it’s flipped around, hold on…”

That familiar voice made my heart leap into my throat. The screen glitched for a second, then my best friend’s face came into view.