The week moved faster than Harvey expected.
Not because anything important was happening, but because nothing demanded attention. Days slid into each other in a quiet rhythm that made time feel thinner. Meetings came and went. Emails stacked, then cleared. The routine held without effort.
On Wednesday morning, Harvey reached the office earlier than usual. The floor was quieter, only a few desks occupied. He liked it that way. It made the space feel wider, less crowded, like the building hadn't fully woken up yet.
He set his bag down, opened his laptop, and started working. The glow of the screen felt soft in the dim light. Numbers filled the sheet. Familiar patterns. Predictable movement.
Jake arrived a little later with coffee in his hand.
"You're in early," Jake said.
"Couldn't sleep."
Jake nodded like that explained everything. "Same."
They didn't talk after that. No reason to. The silence didn't feel awkward. Just normal.
Laura didn't appear all morning.
By lunchtime, Harvey realized he hadn't seen Emily either. He didn't think much of it. People moved. Schedules shifted. That was normal. The office wasn't built on fixed patterns, no matter how much it felt like it was.
He grabbed his food and sat near the window again, watching the street below through the glass. Cars moved in steady lines. People crossed the road without urgency. The city moved with its own rhythm, disconnected from whatever happened inside the building.
Emily came in about ten minutes later, alone. She didn't scan the room. She walked straight to the fridge, took out her lunch, and sat at a table closer to the center.
Harvey noticed her but didn't move.
They made eye contact briefly. She smiled. He lifted his hand. She lifted hers back.
That was it.
They ate separately.
Not awkwardly. Not cold. Just apart.
The room felt the same as always. People talking. Chairs moving. Plates scraping. No one paid attention to where anyone sat.
After lunch, they crossed paths near the hallway.
"Busy day," Emily said.
"Yeah."
She nodded. "Talk later."
"Sure."
She walked away without slowing.
The afternoon felt long but easy. Harvey finished his tasks early and helped Jake review a few numbers. They spoke for a minute, then went back to their screens.
Near the end of the day, David passed by Harvey's desk.
"Good work on the projections," he said.
"Thanks."
David nodded and moved on.
It was a small thing. Normal. The kind of interaction that used to feel bigger than it should have.
This time it didn't.
When Harvey left the building, the air outside was warm and heavy. The sky had the dull color of late evening, the kind that made everything feel slower. The noise of the street wrapped around him. Traffic. Voices. Music drifting from somewhere he couldn't see.
Halfway home, his phone buzzed.
Emily: I'm grabbing dinner with a friend tonight
Harvey stopped at the edge of the sidewalk and read the message.
Okay, he typed back.
A few seconds later.
Emily: Talk tomorrow
He put the phone in his pocket and kept walking.
At home, he cooked and ate without sitting down. The kitchen light stayed on. The rest of the apartment stayed dim. The food didn't taste bad. It didn't taste good either. It was just food.
Later, he sat on the couch and turned the TV on.
A random show. Something he didn't care about. Voices filled the room without meaning anything. The sound softened the silence without changing it.
He watched without following the story. Characters spoke. Scenes changed. Music rose and fell.
The light from the screen moved across the walls. Blue. White. Blue again.
He didn't check his phone. Didn't reach for it. Didn't think about messages. Didn't think about work. Didn't think about the office.
The noise of the TV kept the room occupied without demanding attention.
Outside, the city kept moving. Cars passed. A siren sounded somewhere far away. Someone laughed on the street below.
Inside, the apartment stayed still.
At some point, his eyes grew heavy.
He shifted on the couch, pulled the blanket up, and let the sound keep playing. The TV stayed on. The voices kept talking. The scenes kept changing.
Harvey didn't follow any of it.
The light flickered across his face.
His breathing slowed.
The screen kept moving.
People kept talking.
The city kept making noise outside the window.
Harvey fell asleep with the TV still on.
Not restless.
Not peaceful.
Just tired.