She was close to campus and could walk while the weather was still good. It had been at least a month since he had seen her, and when he knocked on the door she took a long time to open up. The apartment was large, sparsely furnished, and immaculately clean. For the second time that day he found himself looking at a woman who looked a bit worse for the wear. “You look like crap,” he said. She managed a smile. “I’m just tired. Twenty-two credits is a struggle, but I’m fine. Don’t worry. I’m getting ready to broil some whitefish. I swear, I’m always hungry,” she added. Her belly was swollen to the point where it looked like the slightest jostle would make it pop. He followed her into the kitchen, got a can of Diet Pepsi out of the fridge, popped the tab, and sat down. “Classes okay?” “The usual grind,” she said. “Walter could read something once and get it.
