33 Frank's State

"This morning's sad story that a local cafe had been vandalised has taken a bright turn. Following the incident, the community came together to help this little cafe.

"They banded together to clean up the store front before comforting one of the cafe's owners who was particularly distraught due to the incident…"

Apparently it was a slow day for local news because that same clip was being replayed on the channel.

"That f*cking b*tch!" Frank exclaimed, unable to contain the fury in his chest.

"Why does everything go so well for her? We both run businesses, but people support hers and not mine. We're both young and attractive, but people like her and not me. When we both face adversity, I get kicked out of my office, and she gets on the f*cking news because of the community's support for her!"

The veins on Frank's forehead were bulging as he shouted at the TV. It seemed that he had not sobered up as much as he thought, or perhaps he had drunk too much while walking. Either way, he was not in a good state.

"She seems to be the world's chosen one while karma sh*ts on me. Unacceptable. Someone like her should have been grateful that I showed an interest in her…"

As the alcohol flowed with his blood, the anger continued to consume him, and his thoughts wandered. After more ranting, he finally decided on a new course of action.

'Yes… that's right… I'll go to the cafe and make sure no amount of community spirit can fix it!'

…

Back in Night Cafe, Jade was rummaging about, trying to find her phone.

'Ah… it's nowhere to be found… I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to find it. I need to rest for now.' She chuckled as she remembered the strange dreams from the other night. 'Maybe I'll have a dream about its location.'

Closing the drawer that she was looking in, Jade headed toward the front door. However, before she reached it, she noticed a patch in the cardboard wall.

'Hmm, I should patch that up. Although cardboard won't exactly stop much from entering, it's better than nothing.'

Thus, Jade went back to the kitchen to find some more cardboard and tape to patch up the hole. After five minutes of emergency DIY, the cardboard wall was whole once more.

'That's good. I probably didn't need to do it, but if I'd left it like that, I would have worried all night. Silly, I know…'

Jade returned the items to where she found them and once more prepared to leave.

However, once more, she was stopped.

'Why would someone leave their cup there?'

As she was about to leave, Jade noticed a half-empty cup of coffee under one of the chairs in the corner.

'I can't leave it like that—it might attract bugs, and it will be harder to clean in the morning. I'll just do it now.'

Perhaps Jade did not want to leave the cafe, or perhaps fate would not allow her to, but she kept finding reasons to stay.