LISA

Opening the front door of the apartment, I'm surprised when I find all the lights on. Jennie usually doesn't keep them all running at once; she's a stickler for keeping our electricity bill low.

"Jen, I'm home. Are you in the room?" I call out. I can smell dinner in the oven, and soft music is playing on our little stereo.

I toss my binder and keys onto the table and go in search of her. I quickly notice that the bedroom door's slightly open, and then I hear voices snaking out through the opening, as if riding the music out into the hallway. The moment I hear her voice, I shove the door open with anger.

"What the fuck!" I scream, the sound booming through the small bedroom.

"Lisa? What are you doing here?" Jennie asks as if I'm intruding. She pulls the comforter up to cover her bare body, a faint smile resting on her lips."What am I doing here? What is she doing here?" I point an accusatory finger at Rosé, who scrambles off the bed and begins pulling her boxers on.

Jennie continues to glare at me like I'm the one fucking some shithead in our bed. "You can't keep coming here, Lisa." The tone of her voice is so dismissive, so mocking. "This is the third time this month." She sighs, lowering her voice. "Have you been drinking again?" The question is laced with sympathy and annoyance.

Rosé crosses in front of the bed and protectively stands in front of her, her arm hovering over her . . . her swollen belly.

No . . .

"Are you?" I choke out. "You're . . . you and her?"

She sighs again, tightening the blanket around her. "Lisa, we have been over this so many times. You don't live here. You haven't lived here for, I forget, something like over two years now." She's so matter-of-fact about it all, and the way her eyes search Rosé's face for help with my intrusion isn't lost on me.

Confused, the air taken out of me, I crumple to my knees in front of the two of them. And then quickly feel a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but you have to go. You're upsetting her." Rosé's voice gently mocks me.

"You can't do this to me," I beg her, reaching my hand toward her pregnant belly. It can't be real. It can't be real.

"You did this to yourself," she says. "I'm sorry, Lisa, but you did this."

Rosé rubs her arms to calm her, and rage rips through me. I dig into my pocket and pull out my lighter. Neither of them notice; they just cling to each other as my thumb flicks over the lighter. The small flame is familiar, an old friend now, as I bring the flame to the curtain. My eyes close as Jennie's face is illuminated by the angry flames consuming the room.

"LISA!" MARK'S FACE is the first thing I see when my eyes fly open. I push his face away and fling myself from the couch and fall onto the floor in a panic.

Jennie was . . . and I was . . .

"You were having one hell of a dream, man." Mark shakes his head at me. "Are you okay? You're soaked."

I blink a few times and run my hands through my sweat-drenched hair.

My hand is killing me. I figured the bruising would lighten up by now, but it hasn't.

"Are you okay?"

"I . . ." I have to get out of here. I have to go somewhere or do something. The image of the room in flames is burned into my memory.

"Take this and go back to sleep; it's four in the morning." He pulls the top off a plastic bottle and drops a single pill into my sweaty palm.

I nod, unable to speak. I dry-swallow the pill and lie back on the couch.

Eyeing me one last time, Mark disappears back into his bedroom, and I pull my phone from my pocket and look at Jennie's picture.

Before I can stop myself, my finger is running over the call button. I know I shouldn't, but if I can just hear her voice once, maybe I'll sleep peacefully.

"Your call cannot be completed as dialed . . ." a robotic voice intones coldly. What? I check my screen and try again. Same message. Again and again.

She couldn't have changed her number. She wouldn't . . .

"Your call cannot be . . ." I hear for the tenth time.

Jennie changed her number. She changed her phone number, to make sure I can't reach her.

When I fall asleep again, hours later, I'm met with a different dream. It begins the same, with me coming home to that apartment, but this time no one is home.