Free Love's Autograph by Michele M. Reynolds

bed. Sending you positive vibes for the surgery. Good night.
    Ellie tossed and turned ; she was just not tired. She picked up Ria's ereader and turned it on. Ria was 32% done with a book called By Any Water . Ellie typed the name of the book into her phone and discovered it was a lesbian romance set in Maine. Ellie marked what page Ria was on, toggled to the beginning, and started reading.
    The book was about a woman named Claire who broke up with her long-term girlfriend and then took broken-hearted refuge in Maine. She rented a cabin and spent days by the dozens of lakes in the area. Predictably, she met a local outdoorsy woman named Stacia who happened to keep biking and kayaking in the same places that Claire was visiting. Finally, Claire convinced Stacia to be her tour guide. The book was full of attractions, mild flirtations, yearnings and sexual tension. Ellie read page after page as Stacia and Claire traded flirtations and lusted for each other.
    E llie imagined Ria coming home in the middle of the night while she was sleeping, then climbing into the bed and one thing leading to another. Ellie electronically underlined certain parts of the e-book. She reached Ria's 32% mark at midnight, but kept reading. She kept underlining lines that made her think of Ria.
    Ellie woke the next morning to the ereader next to her and to the sound of cartoons in the living room. When she got her bearings, she realized she was in Ria's bed. Maggie greeted her wearing a tiger-striped shirt, plaid pants, and a striped long-sleeve button shirt.
    Maggie got herself ready, and coaxed a few bucks out of Ellie for ice cream at lunch. Ellie watched from the fifth floor as Maggie waited for the bus outside the apartment. Maggie said not to worry because there was an overbearing mother who waited down by them. From the living room window Ellie kept her eyes on the top of Maggie's head and orange backpack, until she was safely on the bus. I bet the kids are awful to her. I wish I could protect her from them.
    Ellie turned around in the apartment and checked her schedule on her phone. It was eight o'clock and she did not have a meeting until eleven o'clock. She walked back into Ria's room and pulled the thick down comforter over the bed. She leaned down and pressed her nose against the pillow, again taking in one last shot of Ria's scent. She picked up the ereader and opened it. She noted where she had stopped reading and put the book back on the page Ria was reading. She went to a list of books Ria had read. Ria had a total of fifty-one books downloaded. Ellie took a picture of the list of books with her phone.
    In the bathroom she shed the clothes she had borrowed from Ria and placed them on the vanity. She stepped into the bronze and orange tiled shower. The showerhead had several settings and Ellie tried them all. She picked up a slender bottle of mixed berry shampoo. She unscrewed the top and gently squeezed. She had found the source of part of Ria's scent. Ellie lathered it into her hair and let it sit for as long as she could. She rinsed it off and then washed her body with pink Dove soap. She imagined waking every morning and slipping into this shower. She could almost hear Ria's voice from the sink as she applied makeup or got ready for work.
    Ellie dawdled getting ready. After a long shower, Ellie dried off and got dressed. She folded up Ria's t-shirt and shorts under the guise of washing them for Ria, but knowing she would wear them until they lost Ria's scent. She left her flannel on Ria's bed hoping Ria would wear it.
    I hope that I run into Ria this mornin g, so I can clarify that I wanted a date last night. A real date, not a friend date. Would staying here until she gets home be weird? She has obviously worked all night and will want to come home and sleep.
    Ellie felt tired and then she remembered she had stayed up late reading. She started to feel anxious and her chest tightened again. Ellie grabbed a yellow pizza flyer, flipped it