"Hey."
Caleb Forrest was still staring at Grace Winslow's departing figure, his eyes red and his fists clenched. The pain in his chest was so intense he could barely breathe.
He had been lurking in the area recently, so he got to see Grace every day.
She was more radiant than ever, while he was like a rat in the gutter, afraid to even face the sunlight.
As he was lost in thought, someone suddenly clapped him on the shoulder.
He jumped, feeling the awkward embarrassment of having his private thoughts exposed.
Behind him stood the old beggar who was always panhandling in this area.
The old beggar was smoking a hand-rolled cigarette. He exhaled a cloud of smoke, gave Caleb a disdainful once-over, and then asked mockingly, "Don't tell me you've taken a fancy to that little miss from the Winslow family?"
"Just kill that thought. Stop being a toad lusting after a swan."
"Look at you, and then look at her. What makes you think she'd ever give you the time of day?"
