Jake didn't change his routine, and that was entirely by design. He woke early, traded before the sun touched the horizon, attended his lectures, returned to the apartment, and reviewed his charts until sleep claimed him. Every hour moved along a narrow, ironclad track that ensured nothing unexpected could derail his focus.
To Jake, the structure wasn't a cage; it was a sanctuary. The fewer variables he had to manage, the easier it was to keep his decisions clean and his life from expanding into messy, uncontrollable territory. At least, that was the theory.
Despite his discipline, Catharine had started appearing in the margins of his day until the margins began to feel like the center. She was just... there. In the hum of the lecture halls, the shared silence of the library, and the casual glances in the courtyard. He noticed her presence more than he was willing to admit, even to himself.
---
