KAEL
Work had become my only way to breathe.
Very predictable wasn't it?
The stack of reports blurred into each other; the numbers, the signatures, the constant hum of air-conditioning.... noise I used to hate, now the only thing keeping the thoughts at bay.
By the time I looked up, the glass walls of my office reflected nothing but the city's dim rain-light. Everyone else had gone home. Only a few of my men lingered outside, silent and waiting, shadows that moved when I moved.
The phone on my desk buzzed once, then again.
Aria.
Her name pulsed across the screen like a heartbeat I couldn't answer.
I stared until it stopped ringing, until the silence came back heavier than before. Then the voicemail icon appeared.
For a moment, I thought I'd let it sit there.... just another thing I'd ruin by touching. But my thumb moved on its own.
Her voice filled the room, soft and uncertain. "Kael, it's me. Just… call me when you can, okay?"
It hurt more than it should have.
