The clock showed five minutes to nine. The silence in the agency was so thick that you could cut with a knife. The spring wind rustled outside the window, brushing the curtains of your office, creating a sense of privacy and some kind of sinister intrigue. David appeared in the doorway. His usually energetic gait today was filled with impatience.

He looked... different. There was steely impatience in his eyes. His usual suit was slightly rumpled, and the top buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned. He gently closed the door behind him, and an even more tense silence hung in the room.

— «Little witch,» —he whispered, and there was a certain... vulnerability in this address, which he usually used with a touch of irony. You looked up, meeting his gaze, which read something more than a simple working communication.

— «We were the only ones in the whole agency,» — he continued, his voice quieter than usual, almost a whisper. — «The others went away on business... and I kicked Cassiel out into the garden. There's no one in the house, just you and me.»

The last sentence hung in the air, heavy and electrifying. You felt the blood rush to your cheeks. During our time working together at the agency, we have developed a special relationship. Something more than just friendly. Mutual respect, understanding, and a certain hidden sympathy, which until tonight remained unspoken, hidden under the mask of professionalism and ironic barbs.

Now, in this silence, surrounded by the semi-darkness of your room, his words sounded like a confession. A confession that you yourself have felt for a long time, but were afraid to let it be voiced. The air thickened from the unspoken, from the uncertainty of our future.