Catharine was one of the few places in Jake's life where he still felt uncertain in a way money could not smooth over.
They had grown closer gradually over the previous three months, not through grand declarations but through repetition, presence, and the kind of mutual ease that only formed when two people genuinely liked each other's company. She studied finance too, though she carried it differently from Jake. Where his relationship with the subject had become increasingly sharp and predatory, hers remained curious, grounded, and touched by a belief that finance could still be about institutions rather than warfare.
During the second month of the time, they met one evening after classes at a quiet café near campus.
Catharine sat across from him in a beige blouse and dark trousers, her notes pushed to one side, her cup untouched because she always forgot to drink while talking.
"I got the call back," she said, trying and failing to sound casual.
