Page 102 of Kiss Slay Replay

“No, I get it. It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“Not a good bit.”

“Jeez, tough crowd.”

“Sorry. Appreciate the attempt.”

“It’s cool. It’s fine,” I say.

“You want a drink?”

“What are you having?”

“The Jace,” he says. “Signature drink. It’s a Manhattan.”

“Um…”

Ravi turns to the bartender. “A whiskey sour, please.”

“Thank you.” I bow my head. “How are you?”

“I’m doing well,” he says. Generic and rigid but not unpleasant. “You?”

I consider lying, but I don’t think the universe would approve. “I’m actually stuck in a pretty gnarly time loop. But other than that…also not great. It’s all right. I’ll figure it out.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he says. “Sincerely. I am.”

“Thanks, Ravi.”

“I’ll confess, don’t quite get the time loop bit.”

“Two failed bits in a row. See? Not great.” The bartender sets our drinks down on the counter. Ravi tips him. “Thanks.”

“Cheers,” he says, passing me my glass.

“What are we cheers-ing?”

“I do not know.”

“I’ll cheers to that.” We clink glasses. Sip in silence.

“Ravi, I hope it’s okay I came over here. I know it’s still…still weird. And painful. It is for me, at least. But I hope someday we can find a way to be…if not friends, not strangers.”

He tilts his head back and downs his drink, then he looks at me. Really looks. He sees me. “I’m glad. Glad that you came over here. And I hope that, too. I just…”

“Time. More time. I know.”

He nods. “I should, um, get back to…”

“Yeah. She is very hot, Ravi. Obnoxiously hot,” I say, and he laughs. “She seems lovely. I’m happy for you.”

“I didn’t know if I should tell you or not. I’ve been second-guessing…” He shakes his head. “I should have told you.”

“It’s fine.” It’s not. Or it wasn’t, but it is now.

“You know, it’s funny you mentioned a time loop. Tanya’s tripping out because she just realized she used to come here as a kid, back when it was still a camp. They changed the name, I guess. She said one summer she got so sick that she became convinced she was living the same day repeatedly, like a time loop. That’s what first piqued her interest in physics.”