Julian's POV
She came home on a Friday evening.
I'd told Elise that morning. Pointed at the door and said tonight, which Elise had received with the focused attention she gave information she found relevant.
By four PM, she was watching the door.
Not constantly. She'd look away, engage with something, then check back. In the same way, I'd been checking my phone for flight updates since noon.
Nadia landed at five forty. Texted from the gate: *In the building.*
I put the phone in my pocket and told Elise. She looked at the door. Nadia came through at six twelve.
She looked tired, the way you look after five days of being fully present and then a fourteen-hour flight. She had her carry-on and the particular expression of someone who had been somewhere important and was now somewhere mo
