Samuel stayed with me until the night grew heavy with silence.
I couldn’t quite tell if it was his professional instinct at play, he had an uncanny ability to listen. He possessed an uncanny ability to offer advice at just the right moment.
In his presence, I felt no need to wear a mask or keep my guard up. I could simply exist, unfiltered and unpretentious.
Our conversation meandered effortlessly, unhurried and natural, as though time itself had paused to give us space. Even the persistent headache that usually lingered at the edge of my consciousness, like a storm cloud waiting to burst, seemed to dissolve into nothingness.
It was extraordinary. For the first time in what felt like forever, I experienced a rare sense of peace, a fleeting but profound security that allowed me to tru
