Julian asked if I wanted to disappear for a day. He said it with that quiet certainty of his, the kind that made it feel less like a question and more like a lifeline. We were still in the middle of everything, still buried under court dates and headlines and Claudia’s notes that never seemed to stop multiplying. But he stood in the doorway with two mugs of tea and a canvas bag slung over his shoulder, and something in his voice made it impossible to say no.

I did not pack much. Just a ...