December 2087. Vicky Garth is 23, Vale Akiyama is 27.
*** warnings: very long, NSFW, deliciously gratuitous kissing! ***
Vicky got on the train right away. She apologized profusely to Beau that she needed to take some time out to go to California to see about a boy.
“How long?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Three, ten, twenty days?”
“Hmmm,” Beau mumbled, sounding like she was the biggest flake alive. He was probably already writing up a want ad for her job.
She called her neighbor and asked her to water her plants. Again, this question, “For how long?”
The plants were so dead. May they rest in peace.
There was a sense of urgency. Since Vale was on the verge of begging, she guessed that he felt it, too. All these questions that needed to be answered now and not later.
The ride was long, but he booked her tickets in the first class car. It had big, spacious windows, personal TVs, and cushy leather recliner seats that still smelled new and not like old sweat and spilled soda. He said, “Can’t have my girl riding in economy.”
My girl, he called her. It was so sweet that she didn’t dare snark back at him. It had been a really long time since she was anyone’s girl, so if he insisted, she figured she should probably try.