Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

"Just do it," Cliff immediately pulled out his phone and called Roseanne.

"Hey, Roseanne, what's up? I've got something I need to talk to you about..."

After explaining his intentions, there was a moment of silence on the other end.

Cliff guessed what she was hesitating about and reassured her, "Listen, Roseanne, chill. This one's on me. We're talking old friends catching up over a meal, no strings attached. Murray won't be there, I promise."

"Okay," Roseanne finally agreed.

Cliff shrugged after hanging up. He said so, but if a "chance encounter" happened, that wouldn't be his fault, would it?

Corley eagerly volunteered, "I'll take care of letting Murray know."

"Deal. It's settled then!" Cliff was excited. He'd be the hero of the hour if he could pull off getting them back together.

...

It was a day with clear skies and the sun shining bright. Cliff had booked a table at Sapphire Bistro ahead of time. It was their old haunt. Just by mentioning the name, Roseanne would know where to find it.

When she walked in, Cliff was waving at her like a madman before she could look around. The waiter led her over, and Roseanne sat across from him.All content © N/.ôvel/Dr/ama.Org.

"Roseanne, I heard you just wrapped up your exams. Big congrats! I've ordered and got all your favorites. Let's have a drink to celebrate!"

Cliff wasn't as well-off as the others but had the best heart. He'd helped her with a few things before, so their friendship had grown.

Roseanne smiled. "Thanks, I've always appreciated your kindness."

Cliff laughed. "Come on, Roseanne, don't be a stranger. We're friends, aren't we?"

He snapped his fingers, and the dishes came in no time.

"Cliff? What a coincidence?" A deep voice sounded from above them.

Cliff looked up, and for a second, his smile froze. He looked past Corley, trying to spot where Murray was.

Wasn't it supposed to be a "chance encounter"?

"Hey, fancy seeing you here!" Cliff managed to recover, greeting with a forced smile.

Corley asked, "You don't mind if I join you, right?"

Confused, Cliff could only respond, "No, not at all."

Before Cliff could protest, Corley had seated

his eye, glancing at

glancing at Roseanne

"What's the special et

today?"

Cliff smiled faintly, "Just catching up with Roseanne to celebrate..."

Then his eyes desperately signaled to Corley, silently asking, "Where's Murray? Weren't you supposed to bring him?"

Corley smiled, not picking up the cue, and turned his attention to Roseanne. "Oh? Celebrating what?"

The question was for Roseanne. Though they weren't close, it would be impolite not to answer.

Roseanne said, "I just finished my exams."

Corley mused for a moment. "Based on the timing, was it for your master's?"

Cliff internally rolled his eyes. 'What's with the act?'

Roseanne nodded.

"Which university are you aiming for?"

"Kingswell University."

"And your major?"

"Bioinformatics."

"Ah, a cross-disciplinary science based on biology, mathematics, and information science?"

For the first time, Roseanne gave him a curious look. "You know about this stuff?"

"I've dabbled a bit, but I'm no expert.

I've always been curious about the differences between Applied Life Sciences, Bioinformatics, and Biology."

Roseanne explained more seriously, "Applied Life Sciences explore the practical applications of biological

molecules in anthropology,

chemistry, biology, and physics. Biology is a branch of natural science that broadly studies the functions and properties of living organisms, whereas Bioinformatics studies biological big data using computers. Uh, is it too

complicated?"