The morning after I met Claudia and Simone at the café, the air felt different. Not charged, not heavy, not even particularly calm — simply steady in a way that left me noticing the ordinary details around me. The light through the curtains was pale but unbroken, filtering across the floor in slow, softened lines. Julian was still asleep when I slipped from the bed, his breathing even, his hand stretched across the empty side as though he had tried to reach for me without waking. I stood for ...