It’s 40 degrees at dusk

I’m numb

And I have no plans after work

As usual

So I text her

And she picks me up from my studio apartment

But before we drive back to her empty condo

We drive around the city

Catching up about our annoying days at work

Ranting about our superiors we are desperate to please

How the men in her dms are slimy and continue to disappoint

How I have the opposite struggle

Because queer women on dating apps just match and don’t message each other

We joke about trading lives

The skyline fades into the background

The lake is calm and vast

We stop and get fountain Diet Cokes at McDonald’s

Sipping on the sweet taste of the best thing we can control

I casually mention I like walking in the cold

Just to feel something

She tells me she doesn’t know if she can handle her job

One more day

How she’s feeling unhinged today

And how she saw a guy on the street

That looks like her ex-husband

We both shudder

I begin my routine of bashing him

I swear I’ve never hated anyone this much

We’re almost back at her apartment but

She asks if we can make one more detour

I’m more than good with this

I don’t need the car ride to end

She’s a backboard for my thoughts

As I am for hers

She is my fireplace in winter

Always somehow burning

Because let’s face it

The cold is here to stay

Driving around today

In this cold and in this grey

Neither of us are thawed

But it’s nice to know we’re not the only ones frozen

That at least for now

We can be lonely

Together