I have a lot of reading to catch up, and I'm so glad that I had this at the top of my list. Man, I'm so bummed I missed this on its first day, I was just so caught up in a trip that I didn't have the capacity to check anything on my phone. Every action my account did was either automated or I asked someone else to do it. Perhaps I have a synthetic working for me at home all along?

In any case, oh man, this is definitely way up there as one of my favorites. Drucker and Marv are competing as my top faves, but stories like this gives Drucker the slight advantage. The intimate opening erupted into a full-blown catastrophe, like a roller coaster that derailed just when you thought you were heading for a well-oiled loop. The couple who's always at the brink of ending things finally come to a head.

Your writing shines so brightly and the conversations are just scripted so effortlessly. The pacing is the strongest aspect in this chapter, and the noir feel in every Drucker chapter really gives the series a boost.

The steaming soup is such an appropriate analogy for this chapter. The aroma and the soothing warm vapor provides an appetizing treat for the senses, much like the serene opening. The tension builds up when you make a decision to get into it quickly instead of cooling it a bit, much like when Drucker decided to head down a losing path. Your tongue gets burned when you rush eating and you might decide to quit eating the meal or tip over the cup, shattering it into pieces. Sometimes broken things are just not meant to be fixed, but just as the Japanese kintsugi art suggests, when things are patched up, it's more beautiful than it was before. It all boils down to choice.

Shout out to Corrola for still sticking tough in the age of synthetics! This was the best "welcome back" story I could ever think of, and everyone on Steemit is so blessed to have such a gifted writer like you my brother as a contributor! :D