"So he's out of the hospital now?"

"Yeah, but he's out on the street again. I hate to say it, but it's not the first time he's ever run into trouble and it probably won't be the last."

Brent and Catherine were walking down Smith Street together, wrapped up against the wind and occasional rain. Brent was telling her about Bob, the client from the drop-in centre he volunteered at, who had been found in hospital a little while ago.

"People are terrible" said Catherine sadly, lowering her head pulling her beanie down further over her ears.

"Some of them" agreed Brent. "Sometimes." He turned to her, walking slowly. "So -"

Before he could continue, Catherine suddenly exclaimed: "Oh! How about here?" She stopped suddenly outside a café they were walking past and pointed inside. They'd been intending to have breakfast somewhere along the street.

Brent forgot what he was going to say. He laughed. "You know, Brunswick Street's, like, five minutes walk away. Less. I don't understand why you want to have breakfast on Smith Street.

"Everyone always goes to Brunswick Street" Catherine replied. "I want to try something new."

"Okay then" Brent shrugged. "Let's try in here then."

They stepped inside the café. Things had been uneasy between them since that night when Brent had had to cancel his date with her because of the situation with Bob and the centre. Catherine had been worrying for some time before then that he was losing interest in her; Brent, for his part, didn't understand why she couldn't see that some things just couldn't be avoided, that some things were beyond his control. Yet somehow she couldn't help but take it personally. Perhaps it was just that she was over-sensitive to these things, but in her defence (and as she pointed out, and as Brent well knew to his regret), it wasn't the first time that he'd let her down like that.

There was so much that they each could have said at the time, but they suddenly couldn't be bothered. They didn't speak to each other for about a week. And then, realising that it was childish and deciding to cut his losses, Brent called her one night, took her out to dinner, and apologised. Since then things had been going well: in fact, as well as they had been going before, possibly a little more so. It was like nothing had even happened: Catherine was warm and affectionate and attentive, and Brent remembered how the affectionate side of her nature had drawn him to her in the first place. And he hadn't spoken to Rona much in the last few weeks, so he had almost forgotten about her disapproval of the relationship. Things were going well.