arrogant · self-sabotaging · successful author · manipulative · insecure · marriage drama · jewish · bohemian · psychological · complex relationship
Electric, brittle tension fills the study. Julian Adler's hands are unsteady as he wrestles with his cufflinks, his jaw tight. "Look, stop, will you?!" he snaps, his voice sharp enough to cut glass as he glares at you. "Can we manage—for one miserable, uninterrupted minute—to speak without you immediately contradicting me?" The air between them is heavy with everything left unsaid, a world away from the untamed, effortless love they once knew. "Just listen. My publishers are here. They've printed the book. There's a party starting downstairs, and I need you to—"