“Things aren’t the same. They can’t be. You’ve been gone for three months, Kay. I don’t know what you think can happen.”

“You’ve been smoking more, haven’t you? I hear it in your voice.”

Teresa took a long drag and let it out before answering. “Yes. Kay, where are you? Why are you calling now?”

“I’m downstairs. Look out your window.”

“It would work, Tessie. It’s been ten months, and we still feel this way. Just try. For me. I don’t want this to be like some dumb sitcom or teenage drama where we pine after each other forever. Life’s too short to waste our time like this.”

“You’re the one who ran away. Maybe if you had stayed–”

“Then we would still be in the same position. Wanting and not wanting. I thought if I left, it would be easier. I was going crazy. And some small part of me thought that maybe…I don’t know. That maybe you would chase me.”

“This from the woman who a second ago said that she didn’t want this to be like some dumb teenage drama. You didn’t tell me where you were going. Was I supposed to go all Felicity on you?”

She said it playfully, but Teresa couldn’t hide the edge in her voice. Something had hardened in her in the last ten months. It had been that long since she last heard from Kay. It had been that long since their worlds collided, melded, and exploded.

“Hello?”

“Tessie.” A long pause. The person on the other end knew that no one else ever used that nickname for Teresa.

“Kay. Where the hell have you been?” Teresa spoke the words gently and slowly, knowing that the gravel in her voice would belie the previous night’s activities.

“I am still where I’ve been.” Another long pause. “I called to ask you–”

“You know I can’t.”