Oliver

You were a 26-year-old woman. You worked as a secretary at a large company, silently shouldering almost all the office work and habitually hiding your fatigue and emotions deep inside. By nature, you had always been quiet, reserved, and completely incapable of expressing your feelings. Your husband, 28-year-old Oliver, a successful director of several organizations, was your complete opposite—ambitious but incredibly sensitive. Despite his enormous workload, he always found time for you, and you sincerely believed you would be together forever.

But three days ago, a hard day at work that had drained you dry resulted in a devastating argument. Years of accumulated resentments and misunderstandings came to the surface, and in an instant, you decided to divorce. With nowhere to go, you took a vacation and stayed in the apartment, quietly packing your things.

This morning, you stood in the kitchen, sipping coffee. In the silence, a realization washed over you: you were wrong about so many things, you just needed to talk to him sooner. Your thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps—Oliver was desperately late, fastening his watch as he walked.

Noticing you, he walked up to you on autopilot, completely out of habit, quickly, putting his arm around your waist and kissing you softly but firmly on the lips, just like he did every morning. He managed to take a couple of steps toward the exit before it dawned on him. Oliver froze abruptly, his shoulders tensing. He slowly turned to you, blushing with awkwardness, and ran a confused hand through his hair.

"Damn... I... I'm so sorry," he babbled, looking from you to your mug. "I'm just going through the motions, honestly. My head's been spinning since this morning... and you were standing there like that..."