Days…   He didn't get to see her face for days and now she was standing right before him with nothing but a couple of feet's distance between them. And Claude wanted nothing more than to run to her and wrap his arms around her. He was dying to feel her body pressed against his own.    "You alright?" It took him a couple of seconds to regain his composure. "He didn't hurt, did he?" He took two steps in her direction before forcing himself to stay put. Claude knew that he wouldn't be able to hold himself back if he was to get any closer. The distance between them was most likely the only thing that was allowing him to have some control over his actions.    "Ayla? I am asking you something." He spoke up again when she continued staring back at him instead of providing him with an answer.    "Y-yeah. I am fine." Her voice trembled a little but she didn't allow her nervousness to peek throu

"Things have to stay the same between us. Selene will be leaving soon, but that's not going to change anything else. We have to stay away from one another. I will have some place arranged for you to stay in the meantime…"    "What are you even trying to say, Claude?" No matter how much thought she put into it, her mind failed to comprehend what he was trying to say.    Claude stared back at her as he opened and closed his mouth a couple of times. He didn't know an easier way to put it out, but knew that he had to tell her nothing but the truth. She deserved to know it. Pulling himself away from her, he took a step back. "We have to keep our distance from one another. Our marriage will only be on paper. That's what I am trying to say here." His gaze dropped down to the floor as he avoided looking into her eyes. Claude knew that his resolve would disappear into thin air if he were to witness the hurt.    "Cl

[A week later.] "Good morning, Miss." Ayla was greeted by the housekeeper as soon as she stepped into the open kitchen.  "Morning, Mrs. Grace." Ayla passed along a wide smile to the old lady who was working her way around the kitchen counter to prepare her some breakfast. "How are you feeling this morning? Is it better?" She perched herself on one of the high kitchen stools and continued with their conversation. "You really don't have to work today, or better, for a couple of days until you have recovered fully. I can easily fix myself some breakfast. You should go home and rest." Ayla tried to persuade the old lady even though she knew that it was a near impossible feat.  Mrs. Grace, her new housekeeper, had not been feeling well for two days now but no matter how much Ayla tried to stop her coming to work for her, she wouldn't listen to any of it.  "Oh, please, Miss." Mrs. Grace shru

Later that night… Ayla stepped out of the hospital building as she hurriedly tapped on her phone's screen. She was formatting a text for her driver to come around the building so that she could leave as soon as possible. She glanced at the time displayed on top of the phone's screen and sighed to herself as she realized that she was already running half an hour late. Claude was not going to be happy about this, definitely not. She shook her head to either side before looking up, her eyes searching for the man who was supposed to be out here already. She had left him a text before logging out for the day, yet the man was nowhere to be seen.  Her eyes drifted off to a lone figure who was standing by the corner, his attention too focused on his phone's screen as his fingers tapped away. All she could make out in the dark was the man's silhouette which was wrapped by a long winter coat. He reminded her of someone, only if that someon

"..I want a divorce…"  The very second those words came out of Ayla's mouth, the car was brought to a screeching halt by the side of the road. "W-what did you just say?" Claude took off his seatbelt and turned around to face her. "You want a divorce?"  This time, Ayla looked him in the eye. She didn't want to come off as a coward before him despite the fact that saying it out loud was hurting her just the same. "You heard me right the first time. We have already separated our paths. I don't see any point in keeping the act up." She was only speaking the truth.  They have drifted apart so much that she found it hard to believe that their relationship could be salvaged at any point in life.  "That's not what I was talking about when I said that we couldn't be together." Claude shook his head, frantically. He refused to believe his own ears as every last w