The office greeted me with its usual hum of artificial lighting and the quiet rustle of productivity. Safe. Cold. Predictable. I slipped past the lobby with barely a nod and headed straight toward my office. But I stopped short when I saw her.
Rose. At her desk as usual.
She was on the phone, but as soon as her eyes landed on me, her smile softened.
Just like that, Kael flooded my head again.
The way he looked at me like I was the only person alive. The way his fingers felt wrapped around mine at the amusement park. The way we couldn't keep our hands off each other, couldn't stop laughing, couldn't stop feeling.
I remembered the way I'd acted like none of it happened.
Like it didn't matter.
God, I was always doing that.
Ruining things when I was scared. Pushing people away before they could leave me first. And now Kael was… gone.
I hesitated, but something inside me caved. I walked over to Rose.
"Is Kael in?" I asked, voice quiet. Too quiet.
