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“Tomorrow?”
“Text first.”
“Understood.”
“And Annie?”
“Yes?”
“This was not a reconciliation.”
“I heard you.”
“Good.”
Neither of us ended the call.
Five seconds passed.
Then another five.
“Are we refusing to hang up?” I asked.
“No.”
“Excellent.”
We remained on the screen.
Ellie finally reached toward the phone.
“Text first.”
“I will.”
The call ended.
My reflection replaced her face.
I sat still while the room returned around me.
Closed curtains.
Silent television.
Yellow legal pad on the floor.
I picked it up.
Claire’s name remained circled beneath the water bottle.
Below it, I wrote:
Text first.
Then:
Retirement planning: sufficiently diversified.
