The Gemini

49 - Xchange

April 18, 1991

"This isn't going to work."

Seated on the couch Jody untied her shoes and slipped them off, breathing a relieved air. Holding the phone in one hand, she massaged her right foot with the other.

"I've only been home twenty minutes. Literally, I just took my shoes off."

"Put them back on and fly back to me."

"No. And what are the odds that you call as soon as I get here?"

"I've called two other times." Roger smoothed over that to get to her answer. "What do you mean no? Think of how much time you're wasting. You could be on a plane right now."

Switching to rubbing the arch of her left foot, "I don't wanna see another airplane for a billion years. Besides, I'm going to sleep."

"Sleep?" he questioned in blasé disdain. A single 'eww' away from sounding like a bratty kid.

"Yeah, some rude boy kept me out all night. By the time I got back to my room, it was time for me to leave."

A singing flirted through the line, "I bet he loves you."

Taking the scrunchie out of her lifeless hair, Jody combed her fingers through. "You think so, huh? Maybe he should fly to me then."

Roger made a declining hum. "He's not even supposed to be on the telephone right now, he's got an awful lot of work to do."

Which is true. Last night, Jody's half sleep ears did hear him say something about locking himself away and jumping back in. Something about album configurations and whatever twenty-five other things.

Stifling a yawn, "That's too bad."

Standing, she took her shoes to the closet then went to her bedroom where she traded her jeans and t-shirt for shorts and a tank. All the while Roger kept dead silent. One would think he had hung up, but not Jody. She knew that he was most likely off in some thought.

"This isn't going to work."

In bed now, nestling under the covers, Jody snickered at his repeat. During her flight, she had already given thought to the location difference. Three hours and nearly three thousand miles between them.

"How am I supposed to sleep without you in my arms?"

"Well, you've had two years training so..." she trailed off, trying to tamp her laugh.

Even before speaking those words she could practically feel Roger's unamused gaze. The same one he directed at her whenever she got slick at the mouth.

"I don't understand your claim. I have no recognition of anything prior to Tuesday."

Tuesday being the day they reunited. Jody rolled her eyes.

"New York." he muttered.

She could hear the wheels turning in his head and the honest bother that this was causing him.

In all of their excitement over the past three days, none of the facts mattered. He wasn't world famous and she wasn't on MTV; they were plain Roger and Jody living as if only they occupied the earth. But now outside of that bubble, reality. His time couldn't be solely dedicated to her and she could no longer drop everything and run to him whenever he called.

"Dance for me."

That just about knocked the sleep out of her. "Huh?"

He repeated himself even though she had heard him perfectly fine. Here he was being out of his mind again.