Page 99 of Rhymes with Metaphor
“Making sure I don’t forget.”
“Taxi’s here.”
“I don’t want anything to change,” said Joel.
“Everything changes.Unless you’re dead.Then everything stops changing.”Reg patted his pockets for his notebook.
Joel handed him his newest journal.
“That’s yours,” said Reg.
“You can use it for now.You can read it on the plane if you want.”
“Cariad, my darling, my sweetheart.”Reg drew Joel into a long kiss, curtailed by the bleat of the taxi’s horn.
They moved apart, Joel adjusting his clothes.
“We should have...this morning,” said Joel.
They hadn’t had time, having slept late after their night of indulgence.
“I know,” said Reg.“But we’ll have to be decent for a little—superficially, at least.”
Chapter 24: Return to Earth
There was a lot toadjust to, being surrounded by strangers in a place where the air was more humid, the sky more open, and everything once familiar now felt unfamiliar.
As Reg drove them home from the airport, Joel said, “I don’t feel tired.”
“Jet lag’s not as bad when you travel east to west, and you’re not sick anymore.”
“I’m not sure I’m ready to see Juliet yet.I don’t know what to tell her.”
“You don’t have to come out to her for my sake, cariad.”
“I don’t know what to come out as,” said Joel.“The only person I’m attracted to is you.I don’t know what I am.”
