Anja lay with her eyes open, even after Susanne had switched off the light, throwing the bedroom into darkness. The alarm clock clicked over to 00:01. She sent the damn thing a resentful glare. Another day with Susanne had ended, and only nine more were left.

They both seemed to be very aware that their time together would soon be coming to an end. They made love for hours every night, both insatiable, and even at work they searched each other out for a smile, a soft touch, a quick kiss, as if trying to create enough memories to sustain them for a lifetime.

Anja knew it wasn’t working. She would never get enough of her. She didn’t want things between them to end; she just didn’t know how to move forward. Would they be able to make it work long-distance? Would Susanne even want to try?

Susanne always made it clear that she would be leaving right before Easter, but she never talked about her plans for the time afterward in detail. She hadn’t even mentioned any specific job offers, which, now that she thought about it, was a little weird. Anja hadn’t asked about her plans either, preferring to enjoy life on cloud nine for a while longer. The thought of Susanne leaving hurt too much, but Anja knew she couldn’t postpone it any longer. She needed to face it. Just because they would no longer live in the same city didn’t mean they had to break up, right? They had options.

Maybe I should move to Berlin. The thought surprised her. Freiburg was her home, deeply ingrained in her heart. But so was Susanne. They fit in ways that Anja had never expected.

But even if she was willing to move all the way across the country, how could she leave Nobby and the store after they had fought so hard to save it?

Anja suppressed a sigh. They needed to talk. “Susanne?”

“Mmm?” Susanne sounded as if she was close to falling asleep already.

Anja sighed. This wasn’t a conversation to have at midnight. If they started to talk about the future now, they’d be up all night, and they had to work tomorrow. She would suggest doing something nice for just the two of them this weekend—maybe a picnic at the lake or in the Japanese garden—and then broach the subject, when they were both more awake and had time to talk for hours.

“Good night,” she said.

Susanne mumbled something against her skin that sounded like, “Sweet dreams.” Her breathing eased into the quiet rhythm of sleep.

Anja settled Susanne’s arm more tightly around herself, covered Susanne’s fingers against her breast with her own, and closed her eyes, willing herself to go to sleep too.