Third Person's Point of View
It was as if Maria sensed it the minute Fredrick walked through the door of that small café, where they normally met. His energy had altered; no longer warm and inviting. He hardly looked at her as he sat down across from her with a silence that began stretching between them, awkward and unfamiliar, an unsettling shift in their relationship. She couldn't help but notice how terribly different this was from the carefree camaraderie that had been theirs just a short time ago. Something was wrong.
Hey,," Maria said softly, forcing a smile as she stirred her coffee. "How's everything going?"
Fredrick looked up at her, his eyes meeting hers for only a moment before being hastily swept away. "Fine," he muttered almost inaudibly.
It was a single-word response, bu
