That day, he made soup for her again, packing it into a thermos.
Vivi had just come back from filing a report and her throat was dry.
Julian opened the thermos, his expression full of a careful, restrained worry.
"Vivi, the climate out here is brutal. I got the recipe from Mrs. Calloway and made it specifically for you." He paused. "You used to love soup. You always did."
Vivi had never seen Julian like this, so stripped of everything, practically holding his breath, asking her in the quietest possible voice just to take a sip.
She took the thermos from him. Then, standing right in front of him, she tipped it over and poured the contents onto the ground.
"There's no future for us. Do you not understand that? I don't want to keep giving you the wrong idea."
Julian stood frozen, absor
