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The thought doused the burning embers within him He sed hard “Iuhshould see what the problem is”

It ith great reluctance that he oing on within him, she didn’t say a word

Having s on the estate over the years, he made his way to the kitchen He felt around the wall for the light switch He flicked it on and there was once again light

He turned back to Sylvie, as still in the shadows “Looks like you have a burnt-out light Which is strange because there should be two bulbs in that light fixture”

“Well, there are” There was some hesitancy in her voice “The one bulb burnt out the other day, but I didn’t get around to changing it”

“I see No problem I’ll have it fixed for you in no time”

“But you don’t have to bother tonight You must be tired”

“I doubt I’ll sleep tonight” The words had slipped past his lips before he realized he was saying too , and he wasn’t up for revealing his past The day of looking at old photos and taking a stroll down h for him And most of all, he just didn’t want to disappoint Sylvie She thought he was a nice guy, a good guy, and he wanted to remain that in her eyes

And so he set to work, locating the items he would need He knew so, but he wanted to take care of Sylvie, just as she was trying to care for hi the estate Perhaps the gestures were not on the sa as needed in the moment

A few minutes later he had the bulbs replaced It was tiain But when he looked around, he didn’t see Sylvie anywhere

“Sylvie, everything is done” When there was no response, he said, “Sylvie?”

“Back here”

He walked to the back of the house, where the living roo business in the front rooms He found Sylvie seated on the couch

She patted the cushion next to her “Come have a seat”

He checked his atch “I I don’t think so” The truth was he didn’t trust hi that close to her “It’s really late”