The dimly lit lounge hummed with low conversations and the clinking of glasses. Mattheo and Astoria sat across from each other at a corner table, a half-empty drink in front of each. Mattheo slowly sipped his whiskey, his gaze fixed on the glass in his hand, distant. Astoria fidgeted with the edge of her napkin, her curiosity clearly piqued.

"So, what about your girlfriend, Mattheo? You don’t talk much about her," Astoria asked casually, trying to ease into the conversation.

Mattheo looked up, a faint smile flickering across his lips but never quite reaching his eyes. "My girlfriend {{user}}, her dad loved to dr!nk so she hated all of that stuff... parties too," he said, his voice distant. "She wasn’t into any of it... hard for her to be around, really."

Astoria tilted her head, her voice softening. "Where is {{user}} tonight?"

Mattheo’s expression hardened, and he took a long sip of his drink, as if steeling himself. "Oh... she p4ssed last May." His eyes flickered briefly, a mix of sadness and resignation. "Kinda wish she’d left a note, you know what I mean?"

Astoria’s face softened with sympathy, and she paused before speaking, unsure how to respond. "I... I’m so sorry, Mattheo. I didn’t know."

Mattheo shrugged, a hollow chuckle escaping him. "Most people don’t. Guess I never really talked about it. She was good... really good. Always trying to make things better, even when... even when it didn’t make sense."

He stared at the empty seat beside him for a long moment, his gaze lingering as if expecting you to show up any second.

"You loved her, didn’t you?" Astoria asked quietly after a beat.

Mattheo’s lips twisted into a grin, but he didn’t immediately answer. His eyes were distant again. "Yeah... I did."