Page 99 of Dear Rosie

Rosie: I’ll bring the banana.

Nathan: I feel like that’s my line.

Rosie: Are you still 12?

SEVENTY-ONE

NATE

I grin at my phone.

This is the first time since our night together that Rosie has reached out first.

I lean back in my office chair and reply.

Me: Perpetually.

SEVENTY-TWO

Wednesday

Nathan: Did you know it’s believed that cats are the only mammals that can’t taste sweetness?

Rosie: You don’t say.

Nathan: Is that a tone I’m picking up? Are you trying to say you already knew that?

Rosie: I may have learned that fact earlier today.

Nathan: *Gasping* Did you listen to the Pretty Cat podcast?

Rosie: I’ve been batch-baking pastries all day. I needed something to entertain me.

Nathan: Rosie, you know what this means, right?

Rosie: I likepodcasts now?

Nathan: It means you’re a cat lady, just like me.

Thursday

Nathan: You home?

Nathan: Or at an event?

Nathan: Just tell me you aren’t in that pileup on 494.

Nathan: Rosie, answer me.

Nathan: Don’t make me track your phone.

SEVENTY-THREE

ROSALYN

I turn the faucet on with my elbow and stick my hands under the water.

I’ve been slathering and skewering chicken for the last thirty minutes, but I’m finally done.