I was greeted at the door to Erica’s apartment by her mother, who ushered me into an antechamber—which featured, among its antique decorations, a bonsai tree and a harpsichord—and said, “I think we need to chat. Erica has told you about her history, yes?” I nodded. “Well,” she went on, “her condition has come back. It’s serious. What she needs right now is stability. No emotional upheavals, you get me? I can see you’re a nice young man. And I know she cares about you. But you have to understand that she’s a sick girl at the moment. She doesn’t need a boyfriend. She needs a friend.” She looked
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This paragraph eschews the rule that mandates a line break for back-and-forth dialogue and it looks and reads better than it would if it hadn’t. It gives it more of a feel of a flowing conversation, it doesn’t seem broken up. Need to emulate this.
