Cradling the phone in the hollow of her shoulder she tells her suitor ‘Babe, I know,’ with prescient firmness and rolls her eyes in my direction. I sigh, hoping she hears the ticking of a clock, knowing it won’t matter anyway. I tell myself I’m leaving in five minute increments and stay long past all my deadlines. She lays her hand upon my stomach and apologizes without meaning it. Somehow I feel she should be sorry for that but it doesn’t matter, her fingers are soft and warm against my skin and manipulate my libido with paper craft precision.