Flutist Girl

A short and sweet surprise

You stayed particularly true to Cid's gruff and stubborn nature and kept him very in-character. His struggle is dramatized so that it is both relatable and hysterical. The story was short, no nonsense or fluff, with a straight-forward plot but a lot of humor. The ending was very satisfying and very much like Cid. It was a quick read that was a very welcome infusion of humor into my day.
I would advise having a beta reader go over some of the finer punctuation details. Some of the parentheses, while they definitely had good things to say and I think are worth keeping, were placed such that they were slightly distracting from the flow of the plot. There were also one or two typos - little things that I know are hard to catch. I would also play up his grumpiness while he was off his cigarettes a bit more. You gave it brief coverage but I feel like there's room to expand the little details just a little more, as Shera's decision to give up came a little quickly, in my opinion, and might be less jarring with a little expansion of that section.
But very well done! The best ten minutes of my day.