«Everyday surrounded by people but always so alone. There's a voice in your head telling y– », Harper sighed. For the umpteenth time he got the wrong chord. As soon as he got to the sentences Devin corrected, he lost focus. Hours had passed now. He had returned to his house and was comfortable, sitting on the bed of his apartment, rehearsing his song, but his mind was evidently elsewhere, still at that meeting.

Harper started staring at his phone. The clock read two in the morning, and it was definitely not the time to make a call.

He threw himself onto the bed and buried his face in the pillow to stifle a scream. «Pull yourself together, you're an adult. You have to get a grip on yourself.» he said to himself before giving in and starting to search for Devin's name on various social networks. It took him a few minutes before he found his profile. He felt like a stalker looking at his pictures, but he was curious after all this time. He didn't post much. There were some photos with his sister and his old classmate, Grayson. They wore the same uniform. Like a good detective, Harper searched the internet for the name of the cafe they worked for. To his great surprise he discovered not only that they worked there but that they were the owners.

He even found an article about it in a small online newspaper.

“From a successful writer to the owner of a literary café.

… After gaining notoriety, thanks to a success bitter ending novel, Devin Woods and his high school friend, Grayson, opened a very elegant literary café, where in addition to serving tables, they dispense excellent reading advice…”

Within the article itself, there was a link that led directly to the story published online by Devin.

Harper was hesitant to read it. «He published it online, there’s nothing wrong with reading it.» he said to himself. He wasn't violating any privacy.