A year later, I returned to Kingswell.
Aster had secured three permanent locations in Kingswell, Steinwald, and Lindenburg.
A magazine interviewed me, asking what the biggest change had been for me over the past few years.
I thought for a long time.
"I used to think freedom meant not letting anyone tell me what to do. Then, for a man, I started to equate freedom with willing compromise. Now I realize neither of those was right.
"True freedom is knowing exactly who you are, and no longer needing anyone's love to prove your worth."
The day the interview was published, I saw Alexander again at a charity gala.
He was sitting at another table.
There was no Selena by his side, nor any new female companion.
Someone teased him, asking why he was still alone after all these years.
I wasn'
