Instead, I found myself staring out the window, watching as the cab pulled out of the parking lot and took off in the direction of the spaceport.
I peered around at the apartment.
No matter where I looked, she was there.
She lay across the sofa, naked, with that challenging look in her eye.
She gazed at me with those mesmerizing eyes of hers and that T-shirt of mine that rode up, exposing her.
I shook my head and slapped myself across the face.
“Stop it!” I said out loud. “She’s gone and it’s your fault, asshole!”
When I peered back at the sofa, she was gone.
She was never there in the first place.
I got up and turned on the hologram TV. A show was on. The images and zany noises floated through my mind but made no impression on me.
I paid no attention to it.
I gnawed on my fingers and bit at the nails. It was a habit I hadn’t done in years.
Unable to take sitting in this place any longer, I moved into my bedroom and snatched up my communicator. I cycled through the contacts until I reached the one I was looking for.
I bit my lip as it rang.
I glanced in the direction of the bed.
It was the worst place I could have looked.
Vicky was there again, writhing on the bed in ecstasy. I was on top, pounding her mercilessly. I turned away and shut the images and sounds out of my head.
It’s not real! I bellowed at myself. It’s not real!
“Hello?” Ettana said on the other end of the line.
Relief flooded my system.
“Hey,” I said. “I was wondering if—”
“Who are you talking to? Ha ha!” Ettana said. “Leave a message after the bleep.”
It was Ettana’s voicemail message.
It’d been so long since I last called, I completely forgot about it.
I hung up, growled under my breath, and typed in a message.
IS THERE A PARTY SOMEWHERE? I typed.
I put the communicator down. She was likely busy somewhere doing something. At this time of night, she was likely already at a party.
She surprised me when she replied faster than I expected.
HELLO STRANGER, she replied. NICE TO SEE YOU’RE STILL ALIVE.
HAHA, I responded.
