Page 42 of Echoes
“It’s okay. Do you want some water or something? I think I have a soda in there somewhere. I don’t–”
“Really drink them,” Felicity finished for her. “I know. You prefer tea to coffee, but you’ll drink coffee if it’s all there is. You also like to take long walks to get out of your head a little, but don’t ever ask you to go for a run because you donotlike running.” Felicity laughed a little. “And never touch your first editions without asking first, and preferably, only while using gloves. I made that mistake once. Never again.” She smiled at the other Rosie.
“They’re old books. I don’t want them to get damaged. And I hate running.”
“I know. I mean, I remember,” Felicity corrected herself. “And I should probably get going. It’s not exactly late, but Iamtired. I worked all day and then drove here. I’ve got to hit the road early tomorrow, too.”
“How early, exactly?”
“About five. I need to be in the office by eight-thirty for a meeting.”
“Felicity, why did you do this to yourself? You didn’t have to come to this stupid lecture.”
“I wanted to.” She paused. “I wanted to see you. I–”
The other Rosie stared at her while Rosie looked on, wondering what Felicity would say next.
“I missed you,” she finally got out. “But I shouldn’t.”
“Why not?”
Three… Two… One… The blackness appeared and disappeared, and she was holding the device. There was nootherRosie, and Felicity was still in the bathroom.
“No… I didn’t get what I needed. What do I do?” she asked the stupid thing she was holding. “Fuck,” she added and put it back in the case.
The doorknob turned, and she locked the case just in time for Felicity to emerge from the bathroom.
“Oh. What are you doing?”
“Putting something away,” she said and walked back over to the sofa.
The device hadn’t told her anything she needed to know. Rosie wanted to try again, to ask it another question or just press the button and see what happened, but Felicity sat back down, and Rosie joined her, trying to figure out what to do on her own as her heart raced.
“Sorry to interrupt us. I just really had to go,” Felicity said.
Rosie’s eyes went wide. It was happening.
“Um… Yeah, it’s okay. Want some water? I have a soda in the fridge, if you want that.”
“But you don’t really drink them,” Felicity replied, and it was nearly identical to how she’d said it before. “I know. You prefer tea to coffee, but you’ll drink coffee if it’s all there is. You also like to take long walks to get out of your head a little, but don’t ever ask you to go for a run because you donotlike running.” She laughed. “And never touch your first editions without asking first, and preferably, only while using gloves. I made that mistake once. Never again.” She smiled at Rosie just how she’d done in the vision.
“They’re old books. I don’t want them to get damaged. And I hate running,” she said, repeating the words the other Rosie had said but in a more direct tone.
“I know. I mean, I remember. I should probably get going. It’s not exactly late, but Iamtired. I worked all day and then drove here. I’ve got to hit the road early tomorrow, too.”
“How early?”
“Five. I need to be in the office by eight-thirty for a meeting.”
“Felicity, why did you do this to yourself? You didn’t have to come to this stupid lecture.”
“I wanted to.” The woman paused. “I wanted to see you. I–”
Here it was… Rosie had followed the script, and it had gotten them here again; or, maybe, for the first time.
“I missed you,” Felicity revealed. “But I shouldn’t.”
“It’s okay to miss someone,” she replied, realizing only after the words had been out of her mouth that she’d deviated from the script.