Chapter 98
Caleb's POV
I finished the last video call at 6:47 PM, my eyes burning from staring at screens all day. The emergency patch for the algorithm had taken longer than expected, but it was done. Finally.
I stood, rolling my shoulders, and grabbed my water glass. Maybe I could convince the girls to stay for dinner. Order something decent, actually sit down and—
Voices drifted from the guest room as I approached. The door wasn't fully closed.
I shouldn't have stopped. Should have knocked, announced myself.
But Lila's voice carried clearly into the hallway.
"...the suburbs are cheaper, but it's really not safe for a single woman living alone out there. Honestly, you should just wait until you have work lined up, and then talk to Caleb about..."
My fingers tightened on the glass. The cold condensation made my grip slip slightly.
Elena's voice, quieter. "I can't just keep staying at his place like this. I can't keep depending on his goodwill."
The glass nearly shattered in my hand.
I turned and walked back to my office, very carefully, before I could do something stupid like kick the door open and demand to know why the hell she was already planning to leave.
---
Elena's POV
Around seven o'clock, we finished looking at all the properties. I plan to invite Caleb to join us for dinner.
I knocked softly on his office door.
"Come in."
He was standing at the window when I entered, silhouetted against the darkening sky. His shoulders were tense, hands shoved in his pockets.
"Hey," I said. "Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to—"
He turned around.
The look in his eyes stopped me cold. Dark. Storm-heavy. Like something had cracked open beneath the surface and he was barely holding it together.
The air in the room felt thick, oppressive. Wrong.
"Caleb?" My voice came out smaller than I intended.
He didn't answer. Just looked at me with that terrible, wounded darkness, and I suddenly wasn't sure if I should step forward or run.
I swallowed hard. "I was thinking... maybe we could grab dinner together? You've already—"
"I still have work to finish." His voice was flat, professional. Like I was just another interruption.
The rejection stung more than it should have. I wanted to say you've been working for ten hours straight, wanted to point out that he needed to eat, to rest, to stop exhausting himself. But the words died in my throat. We'd barely started whatever this was between us. I had no right to tell him how to live his life.
"Okay." I forced my voice to stay steady. "I could bring something back for you? You need to eat—"
"I'll handle it myself."
Each word landed like a door slamming shut. I stood there for a moment longer, watching the rigid line of his back, the way his hands were shoved deep in his pockets. Everything about his posture screamed leave me alone.
So I did.
---
The steakhouse was warm and crowded, the kind of place where the noise made it easy to pretend everything was fine. Lila thought it needed more energy, so she'd called Hector over. Ethan couldn't make it—something about work.
She'd ordered a steak for me, but I didn't have much appetite. Hector got the ribeye.
Lila was discussing some amusing gossip with Hector. I managed a half-hearted laugh along with them, not really absorbing anything. My mind was still stuck on Caleb's expression when he'd turned away from me. That careful blankness, the way he'd shut me out so completely.
"You good?" Lila's hand touched my arm. "You've been staring at that steak for like two minutes."
"Yeah. Sorry."
Hector was already halfway through his beer, relaxed in a way I envied. "So where's he tonight? He usually doesn't miss gatherings when you're there."
The question made my chest tighten. "He said he had work to finish."
"Ah." Hector nodded knowingly. "One of those nights."
I wanted to ask what that meant, but Lila was already changing the subject, asking Hector about his time in Aetheria. I should have been relieved. Instead, I just felt more anxious.
"You want to know what Caleb was like over there?" Hector leaned back, a nostalgic look crossing his face. "Picture an iceberg. Just... alone all the time. During lunch breaks, he'd disappear to the rooftop. Every single day."
I cut into my steak without tasting it. The image of Caleb standing alone on some rooftop made my throat tight.
"There was this researcher," Hector continued, oblivious to my distress. "Pretty girl, smart. She asked him out in front of everyone in the lab." He shook his head. "He turned her down so cold."
Lila winced. "Ouch."
"Yeah. After that, she started spreading rumors. Told people he was 'emotionally damaged,' maybe had 'psychological issues.'" Hector's voice went bitter. "Caleb didn't even blink. Just kept doing his work, kept to himself. But I noticed he was smoking more."
My hands tightened on my fork. I thought about all the cigarette butts I'd seen at his place. All those nights he'd stood on the balcony alone, breathing in poison because it was easier than feeling whatever was eating him alive.
"He never talked about it," Hector added quietly. "Never defended himself. Just... took it."
Because he was used to it, I realized. Used to people seeing the worst in him and deciding that's all he was.
"Actually—" Hector glanced around, then leaned forward, lowering his voice. "There's something you should know. But you can't tell him I told you."
My heart started pounding. "What?"
"He has this photo. Of you."
"What?"
"From about three years ago. In the photo, you were feeding a stray dog, I think? You can see your profile." Hector watched my reaction carefully. "He keeps it in his notebook. The one he always carries."
I couldn't breathe. "I don't... I don't remember anyone taking my picture."
"You wouldn't. He said he was just passing through, back for a few days before returning to Aetheria." Hector shrugged. "Look, if he finds out I told you this, I'm dead. But I thought you should know. He's been watching over you longer than you realize."
I tried to focus on the rest of the meal, but my mind kept circling back to that photo. To Caleb possibly standing somewhere in this city, watching me from a distance, not daring to come closer.
And here I was, anxious about his coldness earlier. Get it together. I can't keep going like this.
"What does he like to eat?" The question came out before I could stop it. "I want to bring him dinner."
Hector blinked. "Caleb? Uh... he's not picky. But he barely eats at all, honestly. Lives on coffee and cigarettes most days."
Lila made a disapproving noise.
"One time in Aetheria, he went three days on nothing but black coffee. I literally had to drag him to a steakhouse and watch him eat." Hector shook his head. "The man's idea of self-care is nonexistent."
I flagged down the server before I could second-guess myself. "Can I get the ribeye to go?"