Half - lit Night

One week before the blackoutAdam Clayton looked around the photo studio and wondered what the hell he was doing. It was one thing to help Nick with paperwork while his friend was in the hospital about to become a father, and another to take the studio's appointment photos for that day. He was a stockbroker, not a photographer. Or at least he used to be a stockbroker. At that moment, he was.He ran his hands through his hair.
What was it really? Professionally, he didn't know, and it had become clearer every day since leaving Wall Street two months ago, while he pursued the goal of minimizing stress in his life. And he didn't like it. For someone who had always defined himself by his career, at that moment he felt like a ship without a port. He frowned. That unease must be temporary. He just needed more time to get used to being away from fierce competition.
But he'd always been so disciplined, his schedule so controlled, his time so consumed by work, that it was a real challenge for him to take it easy. He missed the passion and energy that had inspired his hectic job. He needed to find another outlet for that energy and passion. Something that would bring him the same kind of satisfaction but avoid the health scare he'd recently experienced. Nothing was more realistic than having a serious-faced cardiologist ask him if he wanted to end up like his father.
He'd realized then that he needed to change his life. now. So two weeks after those chest pains had landed him in the ER, a month after his thirtieth birthday, he had officially "retired" from Wall Street. And in that moment, with nothing and no one to worry about but himself, he was finally free to do some of the things he'd always wanted to do, but never had time for. At the top of his list was to spend three months in Europe.
In college, he'd twice planned to spend a summer traveling around Europe, but both times his plans had been thwarted. The first time by illness. And the second.He held back the flood of memories that threatened to escape from the place where he'd kept them locked away. The second time, he'd shut it down because he'd fallen passionately and madly in love and hadn't wanted to spend a single minute away from her.
He shook his head to banish the image that arose in his mind of the smiling young woman who had captured his heart that summer. Since he was a kid, he'd wanted to go somewhere far away and stay for more than 36 hours. To experience the culture, to take time to explore the city. It was something that hadn't happened yet. With his hectic work schedule, he hadn't taken an extended vacation in over five years.
Now, he had the opportunity to do it, and nothing would stop him. However, except for her travel plans, she hadn't made any decisions about the direction she wanted to take at that point. She'd have to make one at some point, but thanks to careful financial planning, the matter wasn't pressing. And with six months' worth of her apartment still paid for, she didn't have to worry about relocating. Which was great, since she had no idea where she planned to live-other than knowing it wouldn't be in hectic Manhattan anymore.
In the meantime, he would do what the doctor had recommended. Rest. Relax. Enjoy the carefree single life. Increase his social life and connections with women. And in a few years, after seeing the world, making up for lost time dating, and starting a new career, he would start looking for the Perfect Woman.