16

She turned her face to him, he was lying tranquilly in bed. "When did this happen?" she pondered. She was sitting in her favourite café thirteen years ago when she first encountered him. He was an erudite man with a great sense of humour, that was the first thing that came to her mind when she met him, this is a man that I can grow old with. As time passed by, their romantic liaison burgeoned, but they also became more interconnected on an intellectual level. They were always laughing together, there was never a shortage of shared interests between them, and there was always something to talk about.

He whispered, "Look at those two facing us,they scarcely exchanged glances at each other during their dinner!"

She turned on her side facing him, he was still lying tranquilly in bed and deeply sleeping. She scrutinized his face again in the dark, wondering, “Whatever happened to us?"

The next morning, they were sipping their coffee at the kitchen table, and he was browsing his smartphone, barely talking to her! She looked at him and asked, aloud this time, "What happened to us? You hardly talk to me and you seem to feign interest when I speak to you after your workday!" he gazed at her and said, "what do you mean?" with a shock expression on his face.

"I need someone to converse with, I am always lonesome all day and when you are here with me it is the only time we can talk to each other, right? only it is not!" she expressed with tears in her eyes.

" I work all day, you know! I lecture ceaselessly all day and when I am finally home all I need is just to sit in silence and rest. Now I need to catch my train, see you tonight.”

He planted a kiss on her forehead, then hastened out the door, leaving her alone, again.