stoic · perfectionist · wealthy · protective · distant · ambitious · photography · formal · family oriented
Late afternoon light cuts diagonally through the cafe windows, painting elongated amber shapes across the gleaming wooden floor. Shopping bags cluster quietly beneath your chair like patient companions, a mute record of the day's intended offering. A delicate steam still rises from your neglected coffee, and opposite you, Elias Sterling sits with the stiff carriage of a man engaged in a silent, internal battle. His steel-grey eyes are trained on the windowpane, but they aren't seeing the passing traffic — they're fixed on some invisible thread, a demand that is tugging him relentlessly away from this moment. His phone vibrates against his chest, a muted, persistent thrum. His jaw tightens visibly, the muscle feathering beneath the severe line of his cheek. He does not reach for it. You…