Chapter 7: Whiskey & Silence
Two weeks had passed since the divorce papers were signed. Zeke hadn’t spoken to Cassidy since. No messages. No calls. Just silence. He thought it would feel like relief, like a breath finally exhaled after holding it in too long.
The days passed quickly, buried under stacks of paperwork, meetings, investor calls, and back-to-back boardroom decisions. He barely had time to eat, let alone think. Work, at least, was reliable. It gave him structure. It numbed everything else.
But at night, when the world slowed down, when the silence returned, Zeke couldn’t escape it.
Insomnia.
It had crept in silently, slowly. What started as a few restless nights turned into nearly a month of lying awake in the dark, staring at the ceiling, listening to the city hum below his penthouse windows.
Tonight was no different.
He had been in bed for almost two hours now. Tossing. Turning. Shifting his pillow. Adjusting the sheets. Nothing worked.
With a frustrated sigh, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. The floor was cool beneath his feet as he padded out of the bedroom and into his home office. The glow of the city was faint behind the tall windows, washing the room in silver and blue.
Zeke opened his laptop and scanned through his emails, ones he had already checked hours earlier. Then he re-read a few contracts, his eyes tracing every line without really seeing them.
Eventually, he leaned back in his chair, head tilted up, eyes closed.
Why can’t I sleep?