It was eight o’clock in the night by the time Mason was done with the video conference. Instead of going back to the bedroom, he walked over to the window in the study and smoked a couple of cigarettes. A wisp of smoke hung in the air, covering the study with a greenish hue.

Mist covered the entire window. He reached out and wiped the glass, only to find four inches thick of pockets of snow gathered on the ground. It snowed particularly heavily this winter, it seemed.

With a cigarette between his fingers, he breathed out wisps of smoke as he stared out the window with deep, profound eyes. He stood there like that until he finished smoking. Then, he snuffed out the cigarette and left the study.

The first thing he saw was the company yearbook when he stepped into the private lounge. It was just laid there, looking conspicuous. He flipped through it and saw the picture where he stood shoulder to shoulder with Eira. It’d be pushing it to claim that there was nothing between them.

Zoe h