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FREDERICK:This is Reggie by the way
FREDERICK:Freddie’s letting me use his phone
FREDERICK:I just got to his house. I was just about to call you.
FREDERICK:I would have called you MUCH earlier in fact if there were even one fucking payphone still in operation between Door County and Chicago
It was like all the fear and anxiety I’d been carrying since that morning left me all at once. My whole body felt limp as a noodle as relief washed over me.
AMELIA:I was so scared when you didn’t come back
FREDERICK:I’m fine I promise
FREDERICK:I’m so sorry I had to leave without saying goodbye
AMELIA:Can you call me?
AMELIA:It’s weird texting you and seeing Frederick’s name
My phone rang ten seconds later.
“Hey.” Reggie’s voice was bright and clear. My relief grew. He really was all right. “You okay?”
I glanced at my half-drunk glass of wine. “I’ve been better,” I admitted. And then, because I couldn’t resist, I teased, “It’s been a long time since I’ve been ghosted for sex, you know.”
He groaned, so loudly and theatrically I couldn’t help but laugh. “Trust me, leaving you right then was thelastthing I wanted to do.” And then, in a voice full of apology, “But I had to.I would never have forgiven myself if something bad happened to you after I essentially led them right to your door.”
His tone was so sincere I didn’t doubt for a second that he meant every word of it. “It’s okay,” I said. “I’mokay, too.”
Reggie let out a sigh of relief. “Amelia, I am so glad.”
I paused, thinking through my next words carefully. If I regretted what had happened before he fled, if I wanted to put a stop to whatever was blossoming between us, this felt like the time to let him know. I could say we shouldn’t have let ourselves get carried away. I could end this before it went any further.
I didn’t regret what happened, though.
I only regretted that we didn’t get to see it through.
Wanting him so much was never part of the original plan, to put it mildly. But I wanted him all the same.
“I didn’t want you to leave, either,” I admitted. “Ihatedthat you didn’t come back to bed like you said you would.” And then, braving much, I asked, “Could we try it again when I get back home? This time without anyone fleeing the scene?”
The snowplow outside was getting louder. Snowplow Joe was making quick work out there. Maybe I could even leave for Chicago tonight if all the stars aligned.
Reggie chuckled. “I would love nothing more.”
TWENTY-FOUR
Minutes from emergency board meeting of The Collective
Present: Guinevere, George, Giuseppe, Philippa, Gregorio, John, Miss Pennywhistle, Patricia Benicio Hewitt
Absent: Alexandria, Maurice J. Pettigrew
