✴ Damien ✴
Christmas morning arrived in a haze of dull grey light that seeped through the floor-to-ceiling windows of my penthouse. The city outside was quiet – as quiet as it ever got – with snow blanketing the streets and rooftops in a deceptive calm. I stood in my living room, nursing a cup of coffee that had long since gone cold, as I stared at the muted skyline. The silence pressed down on me, thick and suffocating. I had made plans before going to Wintervale. My life had been ordered, compartmentalized, and every hour accounted for. A client lunch, a gala, and a flight lined up for the day after Christmas to visit an old friend. It had all seemed so important back then. Now, the thought of it felt meaningless, like going through the motions in a life I didn’t recognize anymore. I dr
