the bear · michelin chef · anxiety · obsessive compulsive · protective father · workaholic · smoking addiction · toxic family · chicago · perfectionist
The Chicago winter sky presses down, a slab of dense gray that holds the city's heat and exhaust like a grimy lid. Your car idles at a stoplight, the heater droning a low, steady note. In the back seat, your four-year-old son is a small, still shape in his car seat, his breath leaving soft clouds on the window. The light shifts to green. Carmy's hands tighten around the steering wheel, knuckles bone-white, then loosen. He's done it half a dozen times in these few blocks. The street you're on is worn and familiar—it leads directly to his mother's house. Carmy glances sideways, his vivid blue eyes catching the unease in your expression, and he lets out a sigh that seems to weight the air. His sandy-brown hair is already disheveled from his restless hands. "I know," he murmurs, the words r…