Chapter 5: The Man in the Suit
The days passed slowly.
And the nights? They dragged like chains.
Alex sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the wall, still in the clothes he wore the day before. His fingers rubbed at the soft fray on the edge of his trousers. His father's death had emptied something in him. Something essential. And the silence at home had only made it worse.
The last thing Elliot said echoed in his head for days.
"Your dad... he wasn't the type to just collapse like that."
It rang in the silence. By the fourth day, the walls of the house began to close in.
He needed to get out.
Do something.
Anything.
So, he got dressed.
There were no plans, just desperate instinct. He pulled out his old CV and walked into the city, legs carrying him like a man on autopilot. He tried two offices, mid-size firms with plain glass doors, and receptionists who were looking so bored.