The Deafening Silence

The next week was a blur of grey.

Julian fired the legal team he initially consulted because they suggested full custody battles. He didn't want a battle. He wanted his son.

But mostly, he wanted the noise back.

He sat in his office. It was pristine again. No Legos. No crayons. No smell of vanilla or apples.

He tried to work. The text on the screen blurred.

He kept hearing the phantom sound of Ivy’s laugh. He kept feeling the weight of the yellow Lego brick in his pocket.

He was the King of Silence. He had built his life around controlling his environment. But Ivy had shown him that control was just a fancy word for isolation.

He looked at the drawing Leo had given him. The sad robot with the heart.

*That looks like me.*

"I am a sad robot," Julian whispered to the empty room.

He stood up. He walked out of the office, past the terrified assistants, to the elevator.

He didn't care about the noise of the street. He didn't care about the rain.

He had to fix the glitch.

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