"What is there to talk about?" Melissa turned her head slightly. "Are you going to go over the same tune you've said in the past?"
"I—"
"Listen, I don't care," she interrupted. "Save your apology for the next time you decide to reset the universe on a stupid whim."
"Melissa," Rael called out sternly. "I'm not trying to apologize, nor am I trying to get in your good graces. I know I can't, so I won't."
Taking a deep breath, he continued:
"The only thing I want is to hear how you've been. Is it selfish? Yeah, but I have a bit of time, and since you were talking about a vacation, I bet you do too."
He turned his gaze to the pond, then walked toward it before sitting down. His expectations weren't high, but even so, after a few seconds, he heard footsteps coming toward him.
Instead of sitting down beside him, Melissa jumped to the other side of the pond and sat down there.
