Fiona
Archie was sitting behind his desk when I entered, a laptop open in front of him, though he wasn't looking at it. He was staring at something else entirely, a small stack of paper resting near his hand, and the moment I stepped through the doorway, his eyes lifted to meet mine with an expression I had never seen from him before. Guarded. Uncertain. Like a man bracing himself for something he already suspected but hadn't yet allowed himself to fully believe.
"Thea," he said, his voice careful, measured in a way that told me everything I needed to know about how close he already was to the truth. "I wasn't expecting you."
"I need to talk to you," I said, my voice trembling despite every effort to steady it. "Please. Can I close the door?"
Something flickered across his face, warine
