Chapter 84

• I took a late-night stroll with Frank while streetlights cast a golden hue across cobblestone streets, lighting our path. The night air was cool and carried the subtle scent of flowers from surrounding gardens, mixed with the fragrance of warm bread and pastries wafting from still-open cafes late into the evening. I inhaled deeply, smiling. Evening was just fine and I would not have had it any other way.
• "How's Dean calling you or has he been silent?" Frank stopped suddenly and inquired as we walked down empty streets. I glared at Frank and questioned him with one raised eyebrow. "Where is that from?" I inquired, wondering whether Frank was still insecure about Dean. I had also explained to him in particular that I had broken up with him so that we could start afresh on a clean slate. yet Frank simply could not keep the man who I went out with out of his head. "I just think it was odd he cut off contact suddenly like that. Maybe he's plotting," Frank responded, scrunching his eyebrows.
• After I broke up with Dean, then suddenly he vanished into thin air. Although I understood that he would require time to process the break-up, it was strange of him to suddenly disappear like that. Nevertheless, I did not believe Dean to be a bad man. He was someone that I had always relied on for comfort, though not necessarily romantic comfort. I sighed and continued, "I told you that he's a good man, Frank. He's just grieving. I am certain that he just needs some time."