INT. - GERRI'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Gerri tipped back her beer, staring out over the city, bare feet propped up on the railing of her tiny balcony. She'd mellowed slightly with the intake of alcohol, familiar flavor doing what the drink itself couldn't anymore. Enough everything seemed less overwhelming for the moment, more manageable.

He'd taught her to handle anything, hadn't he, in his own way? And she'd forgotten that lesson. Failed to connect the dots he'd been ...