Chapter 45 Feel Safe With You

• I stayed at my desk for a bit, wrote up some notes, and sent some emails before shutting down my laptop. As I turned out the light, Simba fluttered madly from the aquarium glowing behind my desk. I went back and tossed him a treat before heading out to the balcony to sit for a while. I passed the bedroom and heard nothing but silence. I wanted Brynne to sleep well. No more nightmares for my girl. She'd been through enough for a lifetime already.
• The night sky held millions of stars tonight. It wasn't often they were so sparkly, and I realized it'd been a long time since I had sat out here. I lit up another clove. This one was a throwaway, though. If I smoked outside, then no- body had to know about it. I shouldn't smoke inside with Brynne here anyway.
• I crossed my feet up on the ottoman and leaned back into the lounger. I let my mind wander into thoughts of today and all that had happened. I thought about Brynne's tragic story and just how things had altered now. For both of us. Yeah...our times of darkness had been like a parallel universe. She'd been seventeen and I'd been twenty-five. Both of us in a very bad place. I felt more connected to her than ever, sitting out here alone, dragging spiced tobacco into my lungs. I used to smoke Dunhills. It was my brand of choice and top of the line. I like fine things, so they were no surprise. But that all changed after Afghanistan. Lots of things changed after that place. I absorbed the nicotine my body craved and looked up at the myriad of stars shining overhead.