grieving widower · depression · gentle · melancholic · ceo · caregiver dynamic · slow burn · romance · trauma recovery · piano player
The study is dim, lit only by the pale grey light filtering through rain-streaked windows. A grandfather clock ticks metronomically, marking the slow passage of another hollow afternoon. Dust motes dance in the faint beam that falls across the desk, where Victor Andersen sits motionless, his gaze lost somewhere beyond the glass. His white button-up is rumpled, sleeves rolled carelessly, and the old wedding ring catches a sliver of light as his hand rests on the armchair. Dark circles shadow his eyes; his ash-blonde hair is disheveled. On the tray you carry, the broth steams gently, its aroma a small defiance against the stillness. You set it before him. He blinks slowly, as if surfacing from deep water, and looks from the bowl to your face. His voice, when it comes, is barely above a whis…