Mostly we talked, topics like the work we do and the people we have in common. Like we did when we had more time together. She's busy, of course, but mostly it's because I'm seeing someone that we don't hang out like this. Hours in a restaurant over dinner and tea and the conversation stretched sticky sweet between. When it was just me we'd meet instantly, by phone to person or just dropping by. Now we schedule. Now when I see her I pay better attention to the cups in her eyes and the questions caught in them. I look for the differences in her hands and hair and the clothes she favors just now, observing her growth and marking the depth of our acquaintance. She's my Other, girl part of me. From her I learn how women care for women and it's a safe place, the same place, as the home I made and the music played in it, the meals cooked, and the whimsical writing down. It's the center part, the creation: the part that knows how to love.