Alassane

𝐌𝐲 𝐅𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐨 (𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢-𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬): 𝓐𝓵𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓪𝓷𝓮 I'm grateful to Alassane for giving up his guest room, even if just for a little while. He insisted I use his first name, (said the other, Porter, made him feel older), and there was a gentleness to the request I didn’t question. We met quite by accident. He’d just returned from a walk through the city with his German shepherd when I collided with him on the pavement. I’d been in the middle of a furious call with my landlord, who coolly informed me I’d need to evict my tenant for personal use. The words had filled me with a sharp, useless anger, and I hadn’t seen where I was going. Our shoulders met, I muttered something, still burning, but he caught me before I could stumble. One hand firm at my arm, the other held loosely by his dog’s leash. He looked at me with quiet concern, not surprise. There was something grounding in his steadiness, in the faint scent of wood and clean skin. When he offered me his spare room, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse. It felt not like kindness, but inevitability...