[PRE BLACKOUT]
"Come to think of it, it's been four months and I haven't heard anything from him, nor has he been coming by the restaurant," Teresa said to Evelyn, a furrow creasing her brow. The clatter of cutlery and conversations around them faded into a background hum as her worry intensified.
They were at Evelyn's uphill branch hotel...
"When was the last you heard from him?" Teresa asked, her voice laced with concern.
Evelyn paused, a thoughtful expression on her face. "The night we all had dinner..."
A knot tightened in Teresa's stomach. The memory of that evening, the unresolved tension with Jess and Gerald... her meeting Neville again too. It must have been too much... could Neville have spiraled? He is a good man, but his past… it had left scars. The thought of him doing something reckless, something irreversible, sent a shiver down her spine.
"You have his contact info, right? Can you check up on him?" Teresa urged, her anxiety palpable.
