Cael Alexander's office carried the stale warmth of a room that had been occupied too long without rest. The overhead lights remained dimmed, leaving the city beyond the glass walls brighter than the interior itself. Rain had started sometime within the last hour. Thin trails of water crawled down the windows, blurring the afternoon skyline into gloomy fractured ribbons of silver and gold.
The office still looked like him.
Three jackets hanging on the coatrack near the door, still zipped in the individual hanging garment bags to keep away the dust. A pair of cufflinks left near the whiskey tray beside the windows. Half-sorted acquisition files stacked in controlled disorder across the desk. Even absent, Cael arranged space around himself so completely that removal felt unnatural.
Galathea Brooks sat behind the CEO's desk with one elbow resting against the armrest and an untouched tablet glowing beneath her hand.
