Merritt and Emma had stayed up late talking about their situation, then started over in the morning at breakfast. After that, they made their way to the Peabody rooftop and talked some more.
“So we agree that it’s pointless to worry about how us shifting here is affecting all the other shifts,” Merritt said as they looked out over the Memphis skyline.
“Us ‘divisioning’ here… not ‘shifting’…” Emma shook her head. “Whatever that means. Time-shift… Time-split… But yeah… we agree we’ll never figure out what’s going on elsewhere…”
Merritt pulled her close to his side, his hand on her hip. “So, we need to figure out what we are supposed to do…”
“Agreed,” Emma leaned herself into his embrace.
They had reached that point in the discussion twice before, then had started over when they got on the roof. Merritt thought it was time to figure out the next move.
Emma spoke up before he could say so. “Merritt… please don’t leave me here.”
Merritt was shocked, and replied quickly. “Absolutely no way that happens!”
Emma leaned in more firmly. “Good. I was scared about coming here before all the time shifting. Big step for a poor Mississippi girl.”
“We’re in this together.”
Emma nodded, but said nothing. They watched a barge on the river for a few minutes as the hot Memphis July sun beat down.
Finally Merritt spoke up. “I have a job waiting in New York. Come with me. It’s a good job. I can support us both.”
Emma put her arm around Merritt and pulled him close, her voice trembling a little. “Okay… New York. I’ll find a job, too…”
After nothing was said for a little while, Emma turned to face Merritt and looked up. “Are you the man I let kiss me two nights ago?”
Merritt smiled. “Are you the girl that let me kiss her two nights ago?”
Emma smiled more. “Let’s say that I am, okay?”
No comments:
Post a Comment