Chapter 101

• The morning began without urgency. I did not check my phone. I did not reach for my planner or glance at the inbox that waited like a coiled wire. The emails would still be there tomorrow. Today was not for solving anything.
• I woke slowly, the kind of waking that happened not because of alarms, but because of sunlight. The window let in a pale gold that stretched across the wooden floor in quiet strips. Outside, the city was moving, but from where I lay, it was only a soft hum, like water moving through pipes far beneath the surface.
• Julian stirred beside me. I did not open my eyes right away. His breathing had changed, just enough to let me know he was awake too. He did not speak. Neither did I.