Vandelin doesn't like to be blindsided by emotional situations--not ever, not even in private, but certainly never at a place where he works. He, too, has kept his path as neatly out of Kit's orbit as he could. To do anything otherwise would be to defeat the entire purpose of leaving him. If he's to stay just as vulnerable, just as attached, just as preoccupied with him, he might as well have stayed.

But some preoccupation is unavoidable. He's prepared himself for the possibility of having to speak to Kit again, or work with him, and that's the only reason why his face is so studiously neutral as he recognizes that gait outside the door. He allows himself a moment, just one, to steel himself, and calls "Come in," as he would to anyone.