Five days since Arianne left.
Franz stood in the hallway and listened to the sounds coming from the playroom. Lily was talking about a drawing and about colors and about how Kyle wasn't using the right shade of blue.
Kyle was with her. Julian's son was three years old, still shy, and still quiet around people he didn't know well. But Lily had decided he was their friend now, and Leo didn't seem to mind.
Leo was on the floor with his puzzle, and the click of pieces fitting together was steady and calm. He worked slow the way he always did, finding the edges first, then the corners, then filling in the middle.
The whale was next to him on the floor. Not in his hands. Just nearby.
No one was standing outside Arianne's closed door. No one was refusing to eat. Lily wasn't crying.
Franz watched them through the doorway for a moment. Then he walked to his study.
He sat at his desk and turned on the TV out of habit. The silence in the house was fine, but sometimes he needed noise.
