Drained: The Lucid by E.L. Blaisdell, Nica Curt

stare at her food.
    Heather, noticing her friend’s distraction, leaned forward, and pushed Riley’s plate of food to the side. “What’s wrong with you today?”
    Riley’s eyes snapped back into focus. “Nothing. Why?”
    “You … you look distracted this morning.”
    Riley frowned. “Just some stuff on my mind.”
    “Amber?” Heather speculated.
    “No. Work stuff, I guess. Our work. How it all works …”
    Heather’s dark features pinched together. “Elaborate please.”
    Riley bit her bottom lip. “Well, like—”
    “What are you two lovely ladies whispering about?” Madison interrupted. Her tone was like elbows, barging in without apology.
    “Nothing,” Riley said through a sigh. She brushed some hair that had worked its way from her ponytail off her forehead. “Don’t worry about it.”
    “Oh my God!” Madison practically squealed. She leaned in conspiratorially. “Did you sleep with our cute waitress, and now you’re ignoring her? Is that why she keeps making eyes at you?”
    Riley jerked to attention. “What? No. I have Amber.”
    Madison made a face. “What’s your point?”
    “Amber’s my girlfriend,” Riley emphasized with a growl. “I wouldn’t cheat on her. Especially not with one of her co-workers.”
    Madison shrugged her shoulders. She played with the straw of her iced coffee, which was sweating all over the plastic tablecloth. “I’ll never understand you. What’s the point of being who we are if you’re going to live outside the realm like some kind of cloistered nun?”
    Riley rolled her eyes. “You don’t ever wish you had someone to come home to at the end of the day?”
    “But it’s a doomed relationship, Riley,” Madison tried to reason. “I mean, I can kind of understand why these two hooked up,” she said, gesturing in Heather and James’s direction. “But it’s not like you’re going to give all of this up for some human. And we only have a few more years in Los Angeles before we have to move,” she reminded her. “What are you going to do then?”
    Riley exhaled sharply. “I’ll figure that out when it happens.”
    Having the ability to live forever was a gift that many people wanted. Having the ability to be young forever was an even grander prize. But life could become repetitive, especially because Trusics required their employees to move every six years. It had been Barcelona before Los Angeles, and London and Sydney before then. Roots—that was something their lifestyle could not abide. But as long as Riley had this life, she needed to find a reason to live. A reason to keep breathing.  
    All the talk about her girlfriend had put Riley on the defense and wanting to hear Amber’s voice. Knowing James’s annoyance about phones at the table, she found Amber’s number in her contact list and stood from her seat. As the phone rang, she walked out to the sidewalk in front of the café’s patio.
    “Good morning,” Amber’s cheerful voice greeted.
    “Hey, beautiful,” Riley returned. She felt the corners of her mouth tugging into a smile hearing Amber’s throaty tone. “Where are you this morning? I’m at the café, and it’s not the same without you here.”
    “I have second shift today, so I won’t be in for a couple hours. But if you’re going to be there for a while, I could come in a little earlier?” Amber offered.
    “No, no. I don’t want to mess up your schedule. No one should have to be at work longer than they need to be.”
    “Speaking of which, when do I get you to myself?” Amber prodded. “You’ve been so busy with work lately.”
    Riley rubbed at her forehead with her free hand. “I know. And I’m sorry. Things have been unusually chaotic.”
    “Well as long as we get some one-on-one time soon,” Amber said. “I’m starting to forget what you look like.”
    “Soon. I promise.”
    They exchanged their goodbyes with more murmurs of longing and missing before Riley hung up and returned to the