“Hey.” Cora looked strange. Almost nervous. A little jumpy. Maybe too pale, though it was hard to tell in the hyperfluorescent light.

Frazer smiled. Probably awkwardly. “Hi.”

Everything felt like it had shifted, only slightly, but enough to the left or right that Frazer felt like she was tripping on her own feet. It all looked the same, but when she placed her foot down, the ground underneath wasn’t where she’d thought it would be. Like when you thought there weren’t more steps on the staircase and for a split second you thought you were freefalling before you crashed back down, no one else really aware about your inner panic.

“I was wondering if you were free for a coffee.” Cora glanced down at her watch, then said, “Or lunch.”

Biting her lip, Frazer closed the file and hugged it to her chest. “I’ve actually got a big patient load this afternoon.”

She didn’t, but she could make one. She’d avoided Cora for the last few days because it was easier. Their friends with benefits deal had ended, and that usually meant the friends part ended too.

Yet she didn’t want that. To not have a friendship with Cora. But when the last thing she remembered about Cora was the taste of her lips, Frazer just needed a bit of time. Some time to step back from that moment and figure out this weird world shift no one else had seemed to notice.

“Oh, okay.” Cora nodded.

“Soon, though, yeah?” Frazer asked.

The way Cora’s face brightened made something in Frazer’s stomach squeeze.

“Yeah, great. How about tomorrow? Lunch in the rain outside?” Cora voice was hopeful and something squeezed again.

Frazer tilted her head, watched her. “Um, I’m really busy tomorrow too.”

“Okay. When would suit you?”

Trying to keep her voice light, Frazer gathered what she could of her old self and slid the folder amongst the others. “What about next week?”

Cora’s shoulders sagged. “Next week?”

“Yeah.” Frazer leant her hip against a desk. “I just think we need, I don’t know, a breather.” Frazer waggled her hand in the air between them. “From all this.”

“I thought we were friends.”

“We are. Or we will be—maybe.” Frazer had no idea what was coming out of her mouth. Whether to stop it or not, she also had no idea.

Cora was staring at her, definitely pale now. “Maybe?”

Frazer edged past Cora, mindful to not touch her. Cora didn’t even turn around, just followed her with her eyes.

“It’s complicated, Cora.” And before she could see the expression on Cora’s face, Frazer smiled. “I have to go. I’ve got a mountain of paperwork.”

She could feel Cora’s stare on her back as she walked down the hall.

* * *

Complicated?