🖤
It was quieter not just the office but everything.
Caleb noticed it in the smallest things, no knock on his door in the morning, no calm voice reminding him of meetings, no subtle presence just outside his office, nothing and somehow that absence felt louder than everything that came before.
"Your schedule." Adrian placed the tablet on his desk.
Caleb didn't reach for it immediately.
"…You missed a meeting earlier," Adrian added.
That got his attention. "I don't miss meetings."
Adrian raised a brow slightly. "You did today."
Silence.
Because that wasn't like him, Caleb picked up the tablet scrolled through it, everything was there organized, structured exactly how it always was but something felt off because it wasn't her.
"You'll get used to it," Adrian said.
Caleb glanced at him. "…To what?"
Adrian shrugged slightly. "Doing things without her."
Silence.
That sentence didn't sit right because it wasn't supposed to be like this, not after everything, not after what they built.
Across the city, Cassy sat by the window of a small apartment quietly with no calls, no emails, no pressure and for the first time in a long time she wasn't thinking about work, she was thinking about herself but even then her thoughts kept drifting back to him, to the office, to everything she left behind.
She exhaled slowly. "…Focus," she whispered to herself because this was why she left to figure things out, to understand what she really wanted not just what she felt but what she needed.
Back at the office, Caleb stood by the window again but this time it didn't feel like control, it felt like habit and habit wasn't enough.
He glanced at her desk, empty, clean, untouched and that hit harder than expected because it made everything real.
"She'll come back." Adrian's voice again.
Caleb didn't respond right away. "…You don't know that."
Adrian crossed his arms. "No," he admitted.
"But I know her."
A pause. "And I know you."
Silence.
Because that wasn't simple. "What does that mean?" Caleb asked.
Adrian smirked slightly. "It means you're not going to sit here and pretend this doesn't matter."
Caleb's jaw tightened. "I'm not pretending anything."
Adrian nodded. "Good." A pause. "Then don't act like this is something you just move on from."
Silence.
Because that was the truth this wasn't replaceable, she wasn't replaceable and for the first time, Caleb couldn't just fill the space with something else.
That night, Cassy stood on the balcony. The city lights stretched endlessly in front of her beautifully distant, quiet.
Her phone buzzed, she looked down an for a second her heart skipped but it wasn't him, just a notification.
She exhaled softly. "…Good," she whispered because right now she didn't want it to be him, not yet because if it was, she didn't know if she'd stay strong enough to keep her distance.
Back in his office, Caleb sat at his desk alone for the first time in a long time he wasn't working, he wasn't reading, he wasn't deciding, he was just… sitting, thinking about her.
About what he did, about what he should have done differently and for the first time he didn't have a solution, he didn't have control, he didn't have certainty he just had…time.
And the realization that losing her wasn't something he could fix in a day or a decision, or a plan. It was something he had to earn back if he even could.
And somewhere in the city, Cassy stood under the same sky thinking not about going back, not about leaving completely, just… thinking because sometimes the hardest part isn't choosing someone it's choosing yourself first.
And hoping that if it's real, they'll still be there when you're ready.