Denial before Surrender
Being with her often meant waiting at the edge of whatever current she was caught in until she circled back.
Usually I didn’t mind. Today I did. By lunch, the cafeteria was louder than ever, full of overlapping conversations and the clatter of trays. Leonard was explaining, with suspicious passion, why all science fiction films mishandled orbital mechanics. Tara was pretending to care while stealing from everyone’s plates.
“I’m serious,” Leonard said. “They keep treating space like air.”
“Maybe space should try harder to be user friendly,” Tara said.
“You’re both exhausting,” I muttered.
“Clair not joining us?” Tara asked.
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