ARIA'S POV
She heard the car at seven fifteen.
She was in the sitting room. Not doing anything. She'd tried reading and put the book down. Tried the Foundation emails and closed the laptop. Tried just sitting and managed that for approximately four minutes before she stood up and went to the window and watched the drive.
The headlights.
The car stopping.
His door opening.
She went back to the sofa and sat down and picked up the book she wasn't reading and told herself to breathe normally.
The front door.
His voice in the hallway....something brief to Sebastian, the specific tone of a man finishing his day, the sounds she'd learned over a year of this without trying to learn them.
His footsteps.
The sitting room door opened.
He came in still in his jacket, phone in his hand, already saying something about the Foundation board's email that Morrison had apparently forwarded to him directly which they were going to have a conversation about....
He stopped.
