CLAIRE
The days passed slowly with Julian gone and I kept myself busy, meetings with Nina about the third production run, calls with the SoHo boutique finalizing details, designing new pieces for the next collection, but the penthouse felt wrong without him.
Isabelle hadn't come back but I couldn't stop thinking about her, how she'd mentioned working closely with him for three years. Three years, that was longer than I'd known him.
I was sketching at the dining table on Thursday afternoon when my phone rang. Julian's name appeared and I answered immediately.
"Hey," I said, trying to sound normal.
"Hey," Julian replied, his voice tired. "How's everything?"
"Good," I said. "Just working on some new designs, how are the meetings going?"
"Long," he admitted. "But productive, we're makin
