MasukLydia POVTrue to his word, he was at the cafe thirty minutes later.Not twenty-eight.Not thirty-three.Thirty.I glanced up from my laptop He looked noticeably different from earlier that morning.He was still impeccably dressed in a charcoal suit, his tie perfectly straight, not a single strand of hair out of place. To anyone else, he would have looked exactly the same.But after today’s conversation…I noticed the things other people probably wouldn’t.The slight shadows beneath his eyes.The stiffness in his shoulders.The way he smiled before he’d even reached me, as though trying to reassure me that he wasn’t about to fall apart.It was the smile people wore when they were trying to convince themselves they were okay.“You’re punctual.”He chuckled.“I’ve been told that’s one of my better qualities.”I gestured toward the chair opposite me.“Sit.”He did.For a moment, neither of us spoke.The silence wasn’t uncomfortable.It was simply… thoughtful.Theo was the first to break
Lydia POVThe lecture was supposed to end after ninety minutes.Nearly two and a half hours later, I was still standing at the front of the lecture theatre.At some point, the official Q&A had dissolved into something far less formal. The students had abandoned the microphones and gathered around the stage instead, some sitting cross-legged on the steps, others leaning against desks with notebooks balanced on their laps. The atmosphere no longer felt like a guest lecture. It felt like a conversation.I didn’t mind.In fact, these were always my favorite parts.Anyone could stand behind a podium and deliver a polished presentation.The real magic happened when curious people started asking difficult questions.A young man in the second row raised his hand.“Ma’am… what’s the biggest mistake young PR professionals make?”I smiled.“They think they’re being hired to speak.”Several students looked confused.I continued.“They’re not.”“They’re being hired to listen.”I stepped away from
Lydia POVThe moment I stepped out of the car, the familiar scent of freshly cut grass mixed with old brick buildings and roasted coffee drifted through the air.Universities had a smell.Not a perfume.Not something bottled.Just… possibility.Students hurried across the courtyard carrying laptops that looked far too expensive for people who claimed to be broke. A few sat beneath enormous trees rehearsing presentations, while others occupied every available bench, laughing loudly over conversations that probably felt life-changing in the moment.I smiled to myself.Some things never changed.There was always someone running because they were late.Always someone pretending to study while actually gossiping.Always a couple arguing quietly outside the library.Always someone convinced they were about to fail an exam they’d probably ace.It was strangely comforting.A young woman wearing a university volunteer badge hurried toward me.“Ms. Lydia?”I nodded.“Welcome. We’ve been expecti
Lydia POVThe office felt strangely hollow after Theo left.For several seconds, I remained exactly where I was, my fingers still resting against the edge of my desk as though moving too quickly might somehow undo everything I had just heard.The soft click of the door echoed through the room before silence settled over it again.Outside, the building was alive.Phones rang in neighboring offices. Someone laughed down the hallway. The printer outside my assistant’s desk hummed endlessly as another stack of reports slid into the output tray. Life had resumed its usual rhythm.Mine hadn’t.I slowly walked toward the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. From up here, everything looked impossibly small. Tiny cars crawled through intersections. People hurried along sidewalks carrying coffees and briefcases, each of them wrapped up in lives I would never know.It was funny.The higher you climbed, the more insignificant everything below looked.Yet somehow the problems inside this
Lydia POVTheo fell silent again.Neither of us seemed in any hurry to continue.Outside my office, I could faintly hear people moving about, printers humming, phones ringing, and heels clicking against marble floors. It was the usual rhythm of a busy workday, yet somehow it felt incredibly distant.Inside my office, it was just the two of us.One listening.One remembering.After a long moment, Theo finally broke the silence.“I thought the divorce would be the hardest part.”He gave a small shake of his head.“I was wrong.”His fingers absentmindedly rotated the wedding band that was no longer there, the habit clearly surviving long after the ring itself.“The divorce was painful.”“But it ended.”“The custody battle…”His jaw clenched.“…never seems to.”I frowned.“What happened?”He leaned back slowly.“Initially, we agreed on shared custody.”“Everything was surprisingly civil.”“I thought maybe…”He smiled sadly.“…maybe we’d at least be good parents, even if we weren’t good sp
Lydia POVNeither of us spoke for what felt like a full minute.Theo wasn’t crying.Somehow, that made it worse.There was something profoundly heartbreaking about watching someone who had clearly cried all the tears they had years ago. The grief was still there, but it had settled somewhere deeper, somewhere quieter. It lived in the pauses between his sentences, in the way his shoulders seemed just a little heavier whenever he mentioned his daughter, and in the tired smile that never quite reached his eyes.He stared at the half-empty glass of water.“I didn’t confront her immediately.”I blinked.“You didn’t?”He shook his head slowly.“No.”“I wanted to.”His jaw tightened.“God, I wanted to.”He let out a shaky breath.“But upstairs…”He pointed vaguely toward the ceiling.“…my little girl was asleep.”“I wasn’t going to let the first memory she had of her parents’ marriage ending be the sound of us screaming at each other.”His voice remained calm, but there was something almost
Lydia POVI blinked immediately. “There what is?”“That face.” She pointed vaguely toward me. “The one you make whenever you are thinking too loudly.”“I do not think loudly.”“You absolutely do.”I rolled my eyes slightly.She smiled into her tea with quiet satisfaction like she had already won th
Lydia’s POV The thing about Marcus was that he loved quietly until suddenly it became impossible not to notice. I had been overwhelmed for nearly two straight weeks. Work deadlines. School activities. One child developing a sudden obsession with building “scientifically accurate” pillow forts
Lydia’s POVOver the next few days, Marcus became unbearably thoughtful.Not in a loud way.Not in the dramatic movie style way where men suddenly start standing outside windows with flowers and emotional speeches.No.Marcus was quieter than that.More dangerous too, honestly.Because he paid atte
Lydia’s POVBy the time Marcus texted me the café location, I was already halfway dressed.Your favorite café.That alone almost made me cancel.Because honestly, why did men always insist on adding emotional symbolism to everything?Still, I sighed, locked my phone, and continued getting ready.I







