After a pause, he said, “How are you liking the house?”
“It’s really… a wonderful house, thank you again.”
“I wasn’t looking for a thank you. I was just curious if you’re settling in.”
“I am. I mean, it takes time, but it’s lovely. Well-built and it has a lot of character. It’s in a great neighborhood, very safe. The neighbors seem nice enough.”
“That’s a bonus.”
“Yeah, for sure.”
“You’re pretty far from the ocean though.”
Was he about to ask her to come over? If he did, she was sure she’d go. “Nebraska’s far from the ocean. I can get in my car and be at Venice Beach in forty minutes.”
“That’s a good way to look at it,” he answered. She heard him light up a cigarette. “Listen, the reason I called was because I wanted to start 1996 fresh, which means apologizing to you.”
“You already apologized. When you called from Phoenix.”
“I owe you another apology. For kicking you out like that.” He let out a puff of air. “I knew if you were here and I saw you, I’d want you to stay, and I knew that if you stayed, I’d end up going back to doing all the stuff I shouldn’t do.”
“You don’t have to explain. I get it,” Claudia said. “Well, I don’t… get it, but I think I understand why you needed to be alone.”
“My sponsor said it’s best if I don’t get into any romantic relationships until I have my one-year chip.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “That makes sense. Let the dust settle, right?”
“One year feels like a long fucking time, especially on New Year’s Eve.”
“It really does.”
Neither of them spoke for a full minute. Claudia imagined being at the house with Mike—looking out at the blacknight sky with only the dim lights of the pool to see. Hearing the waves crashing against the shore. Smelling the salt air. Being in his arms again, like she was back when they first got started and she thought she could be happy. Her going to shower and him heading outside with his telescope. “Umm, did you hear about the comet?”
“Hale-Bopp? Yeah,” he said with a frustrated chuckle.
“Was that what you showed me that night?” she asked, not sure if it was a good thing to bring up.
“It was. Can you believe it? We almost had a comet named after us.”
“That would’ve been amazing,” she answered, her voice breaking as regret filled her veins. If she hadn’t said it, if he hadn’t gone on a bender, everything would be different right now. She whispered, “I’m so sorry, Mike.”
“It’s okay, those guys deserved the credit. Besides, it would hardly be fair for me to get to live two dreams.”
“I think you deserve them both.”
“Thanks, but I’m just glad I got to see it at all. Did you know the last time anyone on Earth caught a glimpse of the comet was in 2215 BC?”
“Wow, I hadn’t heard that.”
“It’s true. Think of it,” Mike said, excitement easing into his voice. “That was when China was swapping out the Stone Age for the new and improved Bronze Age. And in Ancient Egypt, the days of the pharaohs were coming to an end because the common folks finally got sick of spending their entire lives building monuments to future dead guys.”
Claudia smiled. This was her Mike. Right here. Keeping her tone light, she said, “You should probably back off on all the sexy professor talk or I’m going to wind up driving over there.”
He chuckled. “Sorry. I forgot that was such a turn-on for you.”
“Not your fault. I brought it up in the first place.” She cleared the emotion from her throat, knowing that’s not what he needed right now. “I wonder what those people thought it was back then?”
“In Egypt, I’d guess they thought it was sent by the gods.”
