It would have been terribly easy to stay there, to shoot back more vitriol, to continue the fight to the bitter dregs, but Julian had places to be. People were counting on him (And she was one of those people, wasn't she?) and there were some things that just couldn't get done without him; or at least, he didn't like not having a hand in them, because it was his name attached to the club, his reputation that rose or sank with every remark or judgment passed on CASKET. It wasn't obsession, it was careful attention to detail, the desire to make everything as close to perfection as he could humanly manage. Maybe once they'd rubbed each other raw from sheer close proximity she would finally give in to his demands and they'd be free of one another. If she hated the club so much, why didn't she just let it go? The sum he'd offered her was more than equal to her share in both the business and the building, so there was no reason to hang on like she was, nails embedded in something that simply did not belong to her.
His eyes flicked to the hand clutching the bag, holding on to the strap as though for dear life - she was still wearing her ring. The ring that he'd given her more than a decade ago, the banding in pristine condition and the diamond shining brightly. Ariana had always done her utmost to keep both herself and her surroundings in the best of presentations. It was something that he admired in her (and something that attracted him to her), that she continuously looked impeccable in all settings - even ones that involved no clothes - and next to him, they looked like a matched set. Too bad their personalities were in disagreement. Rather than being the one to lower himself to her level, though, Julian stepped around her in the direction of the elevator, giving his estranged wife enough of a berth to leave neither of them feeling uncomfortable. He paused for a moment, glancing back at the woman he'd married with careful consideration. Undoubtedly they would see little of each other, but if she was living so close to the club now, she would probably demand more use of her manager rights; want more of a say in what was going on there, how things were being run, who was being hired, and quite frankly, Julian could do without her meddling.
"I guess we'll see who runs who out of here first then, huh? See you later, honey bunny." He even went so far as to raise a hand to his mouth, placing the palm flat by his chin in order to blow Ariana a parting kiss, as though mocking what they had had. But he couldn't deny that he was shaken just a little by the fact that she was still wearing her wedding ring. They'd been living apart for the better part of a year (longer, if one were to factor in just how long he'd been staying late at CASKET) and what was more, going through divorce proceedings - Ariana was, of all things, a practical woman. There was no practical reason for her to continue wearing her ring. Out of politeness and desire to keep the proceedings in his favor, so she had nothing to use against him in court to win better rights or pay, Julian had done his best to keep his hands off of other women. He imagined that perhaps Ariana was doing the same, being smart in order to get her fair share of everything. The idea that perhaps she had other reasoning startled him, made him look over his understanding of her a second time. Then again, it could have simply been the sudden clinginess that had popped up (caused by your absence, no doubt) that was causing her to hold on to something that had died a long time ago.