Chapter 557 Nordic Heat: (A Helsinki Encounter):>Ep7

• But lying awake later, watching him sleep, the rise and fall of his chest, the faint scent of him on the sheets, she wondered if it was. That quiet ache was more persistent tonight, a small, persistent tremor in her otherwise solid foundation. She knew the terms, she had set them. But knowing them and feeling them were two different structures.
• On the twelfth day, their last full day together, Tarja took him to Tähtitorninmäki hill, the spot where she'd celebrated turning forty. They sat on the cool grass, the sea breeze ruffling their hair, carrying the faint, clean scent of the Baltic Sea. They passed a bottle of champagne between them, the taste familiar and bittersweet. The city sprawled below, indifferent to their small drama, already moving on to its new political chapter.
• 'Soon, Finland will have its new government,' Tarja said, watching the distant city lights begin to twinkle, a mosaic of light against the darkening sky. 'But sun will still rise, buildings will still need architects.' Her life, at least, would continue, solid and predictable, built on known parameters.