Snow arrived overnight.
Not enough to stop the city.
Just enough to soften it.
Lena noticed the rooftops first when she opened the curtains on Thursday morning, a thin white layer settling over brick and concrete, the edges of the neighboring buildings suddenly gentler than they had been the evening before.
The street below was already awake.
People walked carefully across sidewalks dusted with fresh snow. Delivery trucks moved more slowly. Someone laughed somewhere below her window, the sound carrying farther in the cold air.
She stood there with her coffee for a moment.
Winter had arrived properly.
Behind her, Damien was tying his tie.
She turned to look at him.
He caught her watching.
"What."
"You've been awake for an hour."
"I had reports to finish."
"You worked before br
