“Did you always know you’d end up here? Leading a firm?”
“I didn’t even know I’d survive my twenties,” he said honestly. “But...here we are.”
“He’d be proud.”
“I hope so.”
They fell into a short, thoughtful silence.
“You ever think about what comes after all this?” she asked. “Like beyond the business. The scale. The next big thing?”
He studied her for a second. “You mean legacy?”
“I mean life,” she said. “The personal kind. Family. Somebody to share it with.”
“I’ve thought about it. More lately than before.”
She nodded once. Then, carefully: “Any kids?”
“No,” he said. “Not yet.”
Sabine smiled, gently teasing. “So no little ones out there secretly calling you dad?”
That made him laugh, a low, easy sound. “No. No hidden families. No surprise visits.”
“Ever wanted them?” she asked, voice softening.
“I used to,” he said. “Still do. But...the timing’s never been right. Life moves, people move...I move.” He gave a faint, thoughtful shrug, eyes momentarily distant. Not guarded—just distant and she caught the shift. “I know you’ve been married before, and have a son, do you want more kids?” he rebutted. Sabine blinked and she could tell the moment her eyes glossed that his question was sensitive for her. “You don’t have to answer that.”
“No, it’s okay,” she said. “I think about it sometimes. Not in a pressing way. Just…quietly. I loved being pregnant. I didn’t love being lonely during it.”
Harlan nodded, slowly. “What was that like? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“It was heavy,” she said. “And I don’t just mean physically. I had a partner, technically but I felt like I did it alone.” Notwanting to get any deeper, she rerouted the conversation. “What about you? Have you ever been married?” she asked gently.
“Three times.”
“Oh wow…you…you just gonna say it like that?”
“Would you prefer I dress it up?”
“No,” she laughed. “I just—three?”
“Three,” he said again. No shame in his voice. “You don’t get to a fourth without learning how to sit with your own shit. I used to be careless. Passionate, impatient. The kind of man who knew how to start love, but not how to sustain it.”
Sabine nodded slowly, his words brushing up against something in her chest. “I get it.”
“Do you?” he asked, watching her. She didn’t look away, set her fork down beside her half-eaten mousse.
“Yeah. I stayed too long. Wanted so badly to fix something that was broken beyond repair.”
Harlan’s gaze didn’t soften, he didn’t need to perform empathy. He just listened. Let it land.
“And you still believe in love?” he asked quietly.
“I do,” she said, surprising even herself with the genuine response. “But it has to be honest now. It has to choose me back.”
He lifted his wine. “Then here’s to doing it better next time.”