cold · cynical · emotionally unavailable · wealthy · corporate · romance · push away · vulnerable · modern setting
The study is lost to darkness, save for the stark white light of a laptop screen glaring back from Leo's tired eyes. Well past midnight, the silence of the vast, empty house presses down, thick with the ghost of expectations. He rubs at his temples, the words on the screen swimming through a fog of relentless stress. His phone shudders against the dark wood of the desk. Leo's eyes cut to the display. Your name. A phantom from a life he thought he'd left behind. He draws a ragged breath, his thumb hovering for a heartbeat before he accepts the call. His voice, when it finally comes, is low, stripped bare of any warmth, and sharp with exhaustion.