“Ugh,” gurgled the woman as she lifted her head off the desk and blinked her eyes. “I feel like crap,” she groaned as she shook her head in a vain attempt to get rid of the cobwebs.

The soft evening light was trickling in through a half-open blind, giving the whole room an ethereal glow. She looked around only to realize that another girl was sitting opposite her. This girl was lying face down on the desk, almost like she was sleeping.

She didn’t recognize this girl or this room. But she knew she couldn’t just leave this other woman like this. She leaned across the table and gently poked the other woman.

“What?! What?!” Shouted the other woman as she sprung up and looked around frantically. “Where am I?! Who are you?” She babbled as she jumped out of her chair and started to spin around on the spot.

“I could be asking you the same question! But first who are you?!” She replied as she clenched her fists.

“I,” started the other woman, only to stop. Her mouth hung open for a few moments before she shook her head. “I. I don’t know?” She mumbled. “I don’t know who I am?”

“How can you not know who you are?”

“I don’t know!” Shouted the other woman. “I just don’t! Who are you? Where am I?”

She opened her mouth to reply. But very quickly realized that the other woman was right. She didn’t know who she was. She couldn’t remember a thing.

She dug into her memory, trying to recall what her name was. But nothing came to her. It was like her brain was full of holes. Holes that had taken her name and her memories of who she was.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “I don’t remember anything?”

“Oh god. Oh god,” screamed the other woman as she dived forward and started to throw things off the desk. “What is going on, what is going on?!”

“Whoa! Stop! Stop!” She shouted, trying to calm the woman. “Panicking will get us nowhere!”

“I don’t know who you are! Or where I am! Or who I am! I think that is a good reason to panic!” Screamed the other woman as she threw a tub of pencils against the wall.

“We need to take this slowly and logically! Throwing things might mean we lose something important! Listen to me. Listen to me,” she repeated, trying to sound calm.

“What? Do you just want us to stand here and wait?” Yelled the other woman.

“No. Just take this logically. First, we need to give each other a name, it is weird talking without them.” She said gently as she sat back in her chair.

“Do you have a suggestion?” Asked the woman as she let out a long sigh.

“Well, you have red hair,” she nodded. “So let’s call your Red for now.”

“Okay, Blonde.” Replied Red as she started to calm down.

“I have blonde hair?” Replied Blonde.

“You do.” Said Red.

“Oh.”

“Is that bad?” Asked Red.

“No, just. I don’t even remember what I look like.” Mumbled Blonde, a feeling of helplessness washing over her as she said it.

“Me neither!” Shouted Red as she slammed her fist into the desk. “We can go find a mirror!”

“No!” Replied Blonde. “Let’s go slow. We don’t want to lose anything that might help us. Let’s search this room first and then go from there.”

“Right,” nodded Red as she got up and started to look around.

Blonde rubbed her temples and looked across the desk, doing her best to make sense of this room. Her eyes were drawn to the microphones that sat on long arms coming out from the center of the table.

“Huh,” she mumbled as she realized that one of the microphones would have been just in front of her face if she had been sitting at the desk correctly. And another would have been perfectly positioned for Red.

“This place is so clean.” Interjected Red. “It ain’t a house. This is a very corporate carpet.”

“Yeah,” replied Blonde as she spotted some papers on the floor. She picked them up and saw that they were all handwritten notes.

The first page featured a large title stating that these notes were the show plan for the “Hypnotic Amnesia Podcast Episode 1”. The word amnesia sent a shudder down Blonde’s spine.

“Hey,” shouted Blonde. “Do you know anything about hypnosis?”

“Like in the movies?” Asked Red as she walked over. “No?”

“I just found these notes, they say they’re for a hypnosis show.” Explained Blonde as she held out the papers.

“Intro. Link One. Segment One. Link Two. Pity these don’t say anything about what this show involved. Utterly meaningless without context,” said Red as she looked over the notes.

“Right, but doesn’t that mean we used to know the context?”

“Would explain why we were in here.” Said Red as she continued to skim the pages. “It would also mean we’re friends. Or colleagues at the very least. But without anything else, these notes are next to useless.”

“Damn,” groaned Blonde as she rubbed her head. “So we know each other. Which means we were here willingly. I guess?”

“Maybe?” Mumbled Red. “If we were being held against our will I presume they would have tied us up or something.”

“Right,” nodded Blonde. “And someone must have heard us by now. Kidnappers don’t wander off.”

“Or so we think.”

“What do you mean?”

Red pointed to the door and grimaced. “We don’t know what is out there yet. They could just be waiting for us.”

“Right.” Sighed Blonde as she rubbed her head. “We should try it. It’s our only option. We can’t live here.”

“But,” started Red, only for Blonde to cut her off.

“I’ll go first. Then I can warn you,” she said as she walked over to the wooden door and wrapped her hand around the handle. She took a deep breath before pulling the door open a crack.

Blonde looked around, doing her best to not make a sound. The other room was as generic as the one she had woken up in. The main difference was there was a desk covered in switches on the closest wall as well as a coffee table and several couches scattered around.

Blonde quickly realized that someone was asleep at the desk. Their face was pressed against several switches and their black hair was covering their face, making it impossible to tell who it was.

“Come here,” whispered Blonde, waving for Red to follow. Both of them slowly made their way into the other room and moved towards the sleeping person.

“Doesn’t look comfortable,” mumbled Red as she looked over the sleeping figure.

“Hey,” whispered Blonde as she gently poked the sleeping person. “Hey, wake up,” she added, her voice growing slightly louder.

The black-haired woman let out a soft moan as she moved her head a little bit. “I,” she groaned as she opened her eyes and let out a scream. “Who are you?!”

“Chill!” Replied Blonde as she raised her hands.

“Who are you!” Gasped the woman as she fell backward out of her chair and scrambled towards the wall. “Where am I?”

“We don’t know,” said Blonde, doing her best to sound calm. “We don’t know who we are either!”

“You don’t?”

“Yeah,” nodded Red. “We woke up in the other room. We found you sleeping in here.”

“But, what happened?”

“We don’t know,” sighed Blonde. “That is what we’re trying to work out Black.”

“Black?” Blinked Blank.

“We’re calling each other by our hair color,” nodded Blonde. “I’m Blonde, she’s Red and you’ll be Black. It seems like the easiest system to use.”

“Right,” replied Black as she slowly stood up. “So, what are we going to do?”

“Good question,” sighed Red. “We’re looking for a hint of what could have happened.”

“I wish I knew,” mumbled a voice from the other side of the room, causing all three of the girls to jump.

They looked around trying to locate the source of the voice. After a few seconds, they realized that another girl was crawling out from under the coffee table. She looked confused and disheveled, her messy hair made it look like she had been out for some time.

“Who are you?” Gasped Red, only for the woman to interrupt her.

“I don’t know. I’m like you.” Sighed the woman as she brushed her hair out of her eyes. “I guess I’m Brown?” She added as she pointed to her hair.

“Yeah.” Nodded Blonde.

“So, two in the room. Two out.” Mumbled Red. “And that podcast.”

“Podcast?” Asked Black and Brown in unison.

“We found some notes for a “Hypnotic Amnesia Podcast,” but they were not helpful.” Replied Blonde.

“Utterly useless.” Sighed Red. “But you must have been involved in it!”

“If those notes even belong to us,” added Blonde.

“Podcast,” mumbled Black. “That explains this desk. It looks like something from a recording studio!”

“Likely so!” Grinned Brown. “So maybe you were the producer!”

“Wait!’ Gasped Red. “We woke up at a table with mics. Black woke up on a mixing desk. But Brown woke up under a table! Why would you be under there?”

“If I knew that, we wouldn’t be in this mess!” Shouted Brown.

“Hey! Chill!” Interjected Blonde, moving in between the two girls. “Everyone is confused and scared right now. Just take a breath and relax.”

The two girls took a long deep breath as they continued to glare at each other. After a few seconds Brown visibly relaxed and started to rub her arm.

“So,” she started, obviously trying to fill the silence. “What do we do now?”

“Search the room.” Said Blonde firmly. Naturally falling into a leadership role. “We need to find any clues we can.” She continued, only to feel a very familiar feeling in her stomach. “But I need to use the bathroom,” she added as she looked around the room.

“Over there!” Smiled Black as she pointed to a door in the far corner.

At first, Blonde was excited, hoping that some of Black’s memories were returning. However, these hopes were quickly dashed when she realized that the black-haired girl had merely spotted the small bathroom sign that sat in the middle of the door.

“Right,” nodded Blonde. “If I’m not back in thirty minutes, come and find me, okay?”

“What is going to happen in the bathroom?” Blinked Brown.

“I don’t know. I might faint or something. Just planning for a worst-case scenario,” sighed Blonde as she quickly made her way to the door.

As she pushed the door open, a wave of cold air hit her face. It was refreshing and calming, just what she needed after the confusion and chaos of the last hour.

She made her way into the stall and pulled down her jeans before sitting on the toilet, letting out a long sigh as she did. Suddenly, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye.

A white triangle was poking out of the pocket of her jeans. She quickly bent down and grabbed it, only to realize that it was a folded up piece of paper.

Blonde fumbled the paper open, tearing the edges in the process. On the paper was a note, written in blindingly red ink.

“Dear Naomi. And yes, if you’re reading this, your name is Naomi.” Mumbled Blonde as she read the note aloud. “If it has gotten to the point where you are reading this, then I can only presume something has gone wrong. But don’t fear. Plans have been made.”

Blonde gasped. While she had no idea where this note had come from, she found the idea of a plan very comforting. Maybe this situation could be resolved easily and quickly.

“The others will likely be in a similar state to you. Vicky, your girlfriend (she has red hair) will need your help to deal with this. But I know we can do it.” Continued the note.

“Wow,” mumbled Blonde. The letter felt alien to her, but it also made sense. She had felt a spark when she first laid eyes on the red-headed girl and they had woken up in the same room. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

“There are some tapes back at your apartment. These tapes are. Well, let’s just say they’re backups of your memory. Your car has the address saved in the GPS.” Explained the letter as Blonde’s heart filled with hope.

“Yes!” She grinned as she thrust her fist into the air. “Wait, what is my car? Do I have a car?” She blinked only to quickly look back down at the note.

“Look for a small box next to the one door. It has your keys and the number of your parking space inside it.” Continued the letter as Blonde smiled to herself. “But I have to warn you. Do not tell the other girls you know this. The shock to their brain mixed with the general confusion will prevent the backups from working. It will make the memory loss permanent.”

Blonde sat in shock for a few moments. The end of the letter was a cruel twist that made her heart drop. The idea that these three girls hung in the balance made her uneasy.

She pondered the situation for a few moments, running the words over in her head. Not telling the others felt dishonest, but if this letter was right then she couldn’t risk it.

Blonde wanted her memory back more than anything and she knew she would never be able to forgive someone who jeopardized it. She nodded to herself as she folded the note up and put it back into her pocket.

She quickly finished up in the bathroom, making sure to wash her hands and splash some water on her face before walking back into the other room.

In the time she had been gone, the other girls had turned the room upside down. It looked like something had exploded as there were things thrown everywhere.

“You okay?” Asked Red as she smiled at Blonde. “We found some stuff while you were gone!”

“You did?” Grinned Blonde, feeling the spark between her and Red.

“This is a recording studio!” Nodded Black. “We found the name and address on the posters!”

“Neat!” Replied Blonde, trying to work out how to use her secret information. “Did we check the doors? Maybe there are more rooms?” She asked softly as she moved towards the other door.

“Nah, going room by room. Like you said.” Smiled Red. Blonde looked by the door, her heart pounding as she tried to find the box that the letter had mentioned.

After a few seconds of looking, Blonde spotted a small matchbox stuffed behind the doorstop. She reached down and grabbed it, fumbling it a few times before she slid it open.

Inside the box was a car key wrapped in a square of paper. The paper had “39” written on it in bright red ink. Blonde let out an involuntary squeal as her confusion and fear gave way to excitement.

“What is it?” Shouted Black as she looked over.

“I found a key in a box!” Smiled Blonde as she held the key up and slipped the paper into her pocket.

“A key? In a box? What?” Blinked Red as she moved over. “Where was it?”

“Behind the doorstop!” Grinned Blonde as she held the box out for Red.

“How did you spot it? How did I miss it?” Mumbled Red.

“I don’t know, I was just looking around and stumbled on it!” Lied Blonde, trying to make up a good cover story.

“So what does the key do?” Interjected Brown.

“Looks like a car key!” Smiled Blonde before quickly realizing she had to justify it. “It just looks like one to me, too big for a door and it has the electronic beeper on it!”

“Well yeah,” nodded Brown. “I knew that.”

“No need to be rude,” interjected Red.

“Right, sorry.” Sighed Brown as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I was just thinking that it’s odd what we’ve forgotten. Like, I don’t know my name But I could use a computer. I don’t know what I look like but I could still drive a car. ”

“Yeah,” interjected Black as she moved closer to Red. “It was very well targeted.”

“We should find that car.” Smiled Blonde.

“You think?” Asked Red and Black in unison.

“Yeah. I’m going to guess one of us left it here! Like you don’t normally store a key behind a door, right?”

“Right!” Smiled Red. “Especially in a matchbox! This was deliberately left here!”

“Likely by one of us!” Grinned Black. “And cars tend to have personal items stored inside them!”

“Exactly!” Nodded Blonde, her speech getting faster as she grew in confidence. “This seems like a public place, so most of the stuff doesn’t apply to us, but the things in this car must belong to one of us!”

“Okay.” Smiled Brown. “Then we just need to find the parking lot.”

“Yeah,” mumbled Blonde. “But it can’t be hard right? It is not like we’re stuck in a maze!”

“I mean. That wouldn’t be the oddest thing that happened today?” Shrugged Red as she opened the door and stepped outside of the room.

The girls all followed her, all of them slightly nervous about what they might find. Thankfully, the building was rather normal. It looked like any generic community center in any generic city. However, it was devoid of people.

As they walked through the building Blonde ran through the letter in her head. She knew where she had to take the girls. But it was going to be hard to do it without drawing attention to herself.

She was unsure if she was doing the right thing. This felt wrong. She was keeping the other girls in a state of confusion and trying to make them do something she wasn’t sure about. But it was the only option she had. She had to trust her past self even if that self felt alien at that moment.

After a few minutes of walking the girls found the front door of the building. Blonde let out a sigh of relief as she realized that the door led right out onto the parking lot.

“Cool! Let’s try and find this car,” she said as she stepped outside of the building.

“Oh,” mumbled Black as she rubbed her arm. “I hate to be that person. But how?”

“How what?” Asked Red.

“How do we find the car?” Replied Black.

“I guess just try the key in every door until we find the right one!” Smiled Brown. “We might set an alarm off, but the alarm might attract someone who can help us out!”

“Good plan!” Grinned Blonde as she started to move in the direction of spot thirty-nine. The other girls followed on, not questioning Blonde’s movements.

As Blonde moved down the line she tried as many cars as she could, doing her best to act surprised when it didn’t work. Every time she slipped a key into a door, her heart started to pound. While the other girls would be happy to set off an alarm, Blonde knew it wouldn’t end well if one did go off.

“Ugh, we could be here all day,” groaned Black as Blonde continued to try keys, slowly edging closer to the parking space.

“We have to approach this logically,” replied Blonde as she spotted a generic black sedan parked in space thirty-nine.

Blonde kept trying cars, doing her best to maintain her poker face. The other girls were getting visibly frustrated as their hope dried up. It hurt to admit it, but Blonde was happy. Their frustration meant they wouldn’t question her finding the right car.

As she slipped the key into the black sedan Blonde steeled herself, mentally rehearsing her reaction in her head. As the door clicked open all of the girls let out a gasp.

“We found it!” Shouted Black as she grabbed Red and bounced on the spot with her.

“Yes! Yes!” Shouted Red.

“Oh thank heavens,” smiled Blonde as she looked inside the car, only to stumble as the other two girls ran over and bumped into her.

“Anything in there?” Said Black as she leaned over Blonde and looked around.

“I don’t know! You pushed me into the seat!” Grunted Blonde as she pulled her head out of the upholstery.

“Oh right sorry,” mumbled Black as she backed off, allowing Blonde to pull herself up. “I don’t see anything.”

“Yeah, clean as a whistle. Anyone feel like a neat freak?” Asked Brown as she peered into the back window.

The girls all looked at each other before shaking their heads. None of them sure what to make of this car and its lack of personal effects.

After a few minutes of silence, Blonde decided to make her move. “Hey!” She shouted as she pressed the screen in the center of the console. “This car has GPS, don’t they normally have a home setting?”

“They do!” Gasped Red.

“So, why don’t we use it? It will find one of our homes and that might help us narrow stuff down?” Continued Blonde as she climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Right! And if this was a podcast the full script might be at the house!” Nodded Red as she quickly opened the back door and dived inside.

“You’re going to drive?” Asked Black nervously.

“Yeah, I remember how,” smiled Blonde. “This has only taken our identity, not our skills.”

“If you think so,” mumbled Black as she climbed into the car and sat next to Red.

“I know so!” Said Blonde confidently as she put the key into the ignition and twisted it, causing the engine roar into life. As the car started to hum the screen came on.

“Okay, so where are we going,” smiled Brown as she climbed into the passenger seat and started to tap on the console. As she opened up the list of saved locations, she found that one marked “Home” was at the top.

“Cross your fingers,” said Red as she watched Brown tap the button.

“Calculating route,” said a robotic voice as a map appeared on the screen. “Route to home. Take a left onto Green street.” It said firmly as the girls cheered.

“Let’s go!” Cheered Black as she threw her arms into the air.

“Right!” Nodded Blonde as she put the car into gear and pulled out of the parking lot.

The drive towards the house was very quiet. None of the girls dared open their mouths, just in case Blonde wasn’t as good of a driver as she thought she was.

On top of that none of them had anything to say. They had no memory, no self. There was nothing but the last few hours. All they could do was sit and hope that this house had something that would help them.

After a short while, the GPS said that they had arrived at their location. Blonde parked the car and looked out of the window. They were in front of a row of normal suburban houses.

“How do we get in?” Asked Black.

“Right. We don’t have a key.” Mumbled Red.

“Maybe we do!” Replied Blonde as she opened up the car’s glove box.

As the glovebox dropped open a set of house keys clattered out and landed in Brown’s lap. Blonde let out a little cheer as Black and Red gasped with excitement.

“How did you know they were there?” Asked Brown suspiciously.

“Lucky guess?” Said Blonde as she mentally kicked herself. She had become over-confident and had nearly blown her cover on the one thing that had been a genuine lucky guess.

“Makes sense,” interjected Black. “If you don’t keep your house key with your car keys then your car seems to be the next safest place.”

“True,” nodded Brown. “I’m jumpy. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” smiled Blonde awkwardly as she picked up the keys. “We’re all like that. This isn’t normal.”

“Yeah,” smiled Red. “We’re all doing our best! Now let’s go check out that house!” She said as she climbed out of the car and moved towards the house.

The other girls climbed out of the car and followed on behind her, all of them cycling between nervous and excited. Blonde continued to run the letter through in her head.

It had told her that there were tapes at the house. But it hadn’t specified how to find them or what the tapes were. There was a load of different media formats that could classify as a “tape” and some of them were tiny. They could be hidden anywhere.

“Unlock it!” Grinned Red, shaking Blonde from her thoughts.

“Right, right!” Nodded Blonde as she slipped the key in and pushed the door open. The inside of the house was pretty much as she expected. It was basic but functional.

The furniture was cheap and there were some movie posters on the wall as well as a computer sitting in one corner.

“We should check the PC,” said Blonde as she walked over to it, only for Black to interrupt her.

“Hey, check this out,” she said as she waved the girls over to what seemed to be a large tape deck. It was exceedingly dated, looking like something out of the 1970s. It had four different slots for tapes as well as four different sets of headphones attached to it.

“Cool!” Smiled Red, only to gasp as she spotted something behind the tape deck. She quickly ran around the table and lifted a box into the air. “Guys! This box says memory backups!”

“Likely for a computer though?” Blinked Black as Brown and Blonde made their way over to the tape deck.

“Then why not keep it with the computer?” Asked Red as she yanked the box open only to gasp again. “It is a stack of cassette tapes! They have our names on them!”

“They do?!” Shouted Brown as she looked over Red’s shoulders. “Not just our names! Our hair colors!”

“We must have planned for this! In case it went wrong!” Grinned Black. “Quick! Let’s put them in the machine and listen to them!”

“Yes!” Nodded Blonde as Red started to distribute the tapes by hair color.

“There you go, Naomi!” Smiled Red as she handed Blonde a tape.

“Thanks!” Smiled Blonde as she breathed a sigh of relief. The letter had been right. She had saved the girls and soon this whole crazy thing would be just a memory.

“For Lucy,” said Red as she handed the tape to the black-haired girl. “And Billi,” she added as she gave another tape to the brown-haired girl. “Which means I must be Vicky!” Finished Red as she slipped her tape into the machine.

Once all the tapes were in, the girls put on the corresponding set of headphones and nodded to each other. “Ready?” Asked Blonde as the other girls smiled.

“After three.” Said Brown as she rested her finger on the button.

“Three, two, one,” chanted the girls in unison as they pressed the play button.

“Hello,” said a voice in Blonde’s ears. “If you are listening to this, then something went wrong during the recording of the amnesia podcast. This is a backup of Naomi’s memory.”

Blonde took a deep breath. She had been so focused on getting here that she hadn’t considered what a memory backup would be or what it would do.

“I need you to relax,’ said the voice, almost like it was reading Blonde’s thoughts. A strange wobbling sound echoed behind the voice, making it sound like it was underwater. “This will be a pleasant and easy experience. All you need to do is relax now.”

Something about that last phrase sent a shudder down Blonde’s spine. She felt a wave of relaxation wash over her as the world faded away. It was like she was floating on a cloud.

All of her muscles were limp and tingly. It was like a warm ball of happiness had formed in her tummy and it was radiating waves of pure joy throughout her whole body.

“Your memory is going to be restored, using the information you gave before the experiment began,” continued the voice as it echoed through Blonde’s ears. “Please listen closely Naomi and understand that I am only trying to help you.”

Blonde nodded and accepted the words as they flowed into her mind. Everything the voice said made sense as it was trying to help her. It was trying to restore the memories she had lost.

“You are Naomi Mackensie. You are a podcast host and comedian. You know this to be true. If you do, nod your head,” explained the voice as Naomi’s head nodded gently.

It made perfect sense to her. It felt right. It felt like slipping a puzzle piece into a hole. Naomi floated on her little cloud as the voice continued to talk at her.

“Your memory has been hidden behind several keywords. Over the next few moments, we will use these keywords to restore your memory. Extra details will be used to aid these keys. Please nod if you agree.” Said the voice as Naomi nodded her head slowly and drowsily.

Naomi felt better. She felt herself becoming more and more whole. It was like pieces were falling into place in her head. Old memories were starting to resurface and her personality was starting to come back.

“Remember. Fifteen. Twenty Five. Eighty-Seven. White Rabbit. Red Sun.” Droned the voice. “Naomi loves chocolate. Naomi hates broccoli.”

A wave of energy flowed through Naomi’s body as she listened to the words. It was like lights were being turned on in her brain. Illuminating the dark corners where her memories had been hiding.

“Naomi is dating Vicky.” Added the voice. “Vicky and Naomi are a couple. Naomi and Vicky were made for each other. The perfect couple. They know it.”

Naomi smiled as her memories came into focus. She could remember dating Vicky. The spark she had with the red-headed girl suddenly made total sense. It was there because their hearts still yearned even if their minds were clouded.

“Vicky and Naomi are in love. Twenty-Six. Latitude. Vagabond. Vitriol. Naomi loves to talk. Naomi is confident. Naomi is artistic. Virtue. Spiral. Sun. Moon.” Continued the voice.

Every word filled Naomi with joy and energy. Her brain was overflowing with memories. She could remember her past. She could remember her job. But most importantly, she could remember going on dates with Vicky.

Naomi continued to float in her haze, letting the voice unlock all of her memories. Seconds became minutes and minutes started to feel like hours as the voice cooed softly in her ear.

After a long period of calm drifting, the voice told Naomi that it was time to wake up. She blinked her eyes and let the world come back into focus.

She could see the other girls all doing the same as her. As she stretched she felt the joints in her arm pop as a wave of contentment ran through her.

“Wow. This was. Wild.” Grinned Lucy.

“Yeah!” Smiled Vicky as she turned to face Naomi. “To think I had forgotten who you were!” She added as she moved towards Naomi and hugged her tight.

“I still felt the spark,” smiled Naomi as she kissed Vicky softly on the lips.

“Whoa, calm down love birds!” Smiled Billi. “At least let me and Lucy leave first.”

“Oh right!” Blushed Vicky as she pulled away from Naomi’s lips. “Sorry. This just made me appreciate what we have.”

“Don’t worry about it!” Chuckled Billi.

“But hey, let’s can the podcast idea.” Interjected Lucy. “We got super lucky today. I don’t want to lose my memory again.”

“Yeah, I think that is for the best. I couldn’t stand to lose everything again.” Nodded Naomi as she tightly gripped Vicky’s hand.

“Oh, I’ll need my car keys!” Smiled Billi.

“On the front table!” Beamed Naomi as she pointed to the door.

“I’m going to head off too,” grinned Lucy as she got up and followed Billi out of the house and into the street.

“Need a ride?” Asked Billi.

“Nah, I want to walk. Clear my head after today.” Replied Lucy.

“Don’t blame you. I’m going to go back to the studio and clean up the mess we made before anyone notices.” Chuckled Billi.

“Crap! I forgot about that!” Shouted Lucy as her mouth dropped open. “I’ll come with.”

“Nah.” Replied Billi as she waved her hand. “It’s fine. I’ve got to head that way anyway. You get some rest.”

“Well, if you’re sure.” Mumbled Lucy. “But hey, if you need anything, call me!” She added as she started to walk down the street.

Once she was out of sight, Billi climbed into the driver’s seat of the car and grinned to herself. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a photograph.

The photograph showed Lucy and Vicky sat at a fancy restaurant. Their lips were joined in a kiss and their eyes were positively overflowing with love.

“All’s fair in love and war.” Mumbled Billi as she opened the glovebox and fished out a red pen. She pulled the lid off the pen and started to scribble out Lucy’s face.

Once Lucy’s face was nothing but a red blob, Vicky put the pen back inside the glovebox and crumpled the photograph into a ball. Billi chuckled to herself before ramming the balled up photograph into the cupholder.

“Don’t say I never do anything for you, Naomi,” she grinned as she started up the car and headed off towards the community center.