Romans & histoires 10 Year Gap

“Something like that.” But his mind had already drifted back to the past. He and Ellie in the backyard. She was ten, stubborn, wild, and impossibly bright. He’d missed her tenth birthday because he’d run off to chase a dream in another city. She didn’t talk to him for two years after that. Not because she was angry, but because their father had made sure she couldn’t. “Damon?” Jordan’s voice pulled him back again. “What’s your favorite album of all time?”

Eliza's POV Ten years. A decade since I'd walked out of Scott's office and into Adam's car. A decade of war and peace, of loss and rebuilding, of watching Clara grow from a baby into a young woman who looked at the world with her father's steady eyes and my stubborn chin.

How I’ll explain the seven-year gap. I was married to a controlling man who convinced me I didn’t need a career. Too honest. I took time to focus on family. Too vague. I made a mistake and I’m ready to fix it.* Maybe too vulnerable. At 2 AM, my phone buzzes. Lucien. You’re awake, aren’t you? Overthinking the interview. How did you know? Because I know you. Stop spiraling. You’re going to be great. What if they ask about the gap?

My name was Quinn Clarke. I was 26 years old. I had a great figure and good looks, and I worked as a teacher at a private middle school. But underneath all of that, the truth was that I was just a wife who had been starved for a very long time. My husband, Garrett Weber, was getting older. His performance in the bedroom kept getting worse, and his interest in me was fading. He could not satisfy me anymore. Even when I wore my finest lingerie and paraded around in front of him, he could barely get hard. Every night, deep in the dark, I had to take care of my own needs.

{Vanessa’s POV} Ten years. That’s how long it had been since I last saw him. Ten years since his family packed up and left, their house swallowed by silence. Ten years since Vincent — the boy down the street who once sat broken on his porch — vanished without a goodbye.

“We’ll be celebrating our anniversary this coming month.” Anniversary? My heart skipped a beat. Really? It didn’t feel like we’d been together that long, yet when I thought about it, I realized just how much time had passed. I’d run away from him—ten months. Ten months, spent building my career, trying to heal and manage my grandmother’s cabin in Finland. It had felt like a lifetime of distance, but now, here we were. Still in this honeymoon phase, still learning from each other, still new.

“We used to bicker all the time, but you’ve never been like this. Even through all the countless arguments we had growing up, and we had plenty, you were never this distant. So, what the fuck gives?” “What gives?” I croon heatedly. “Are you kidding me? I haven’t seen you in ten bloody years, Devin. One day you show up out of the blue, and I’m supposed to be all chummy with you? We’ve grown apart. It happens when people go an entire decade without seeing one another.” I explain and attempt to turn and pick up the plates, but he pulls on my arm, and I’m yet again forced to face him. Damn these cuffs to hell.

Not really, I thought but she was already seated, looking at me expectantly, it would be rude if I made any form of excuse to leave so, I picked up the rest of my package and moved towards her. “How have you been? School? I know this is around exam time” I’m suddenly reminded that she’d gone to school with Ian some ten years ago and felt weirdly young. There was a noticeable age difference between Ian and I, six to be exact. Bust sometime it felt larger, like now. But this is America, a six year age gap between couples is pretty chill. “Fine, yeah, exams” I nodded. “I remember those fondly” Exams? Fondly?

After he said that, I smiled at him again, and he returned my smile before asking me again. He seemed to be trying to keep up the conversation as much as he could because, like me, he didn't want even a speck of awkwardness to come between us. "How about your love life? Are you dating anyone?" He inquired. "No. Actually, I haven't dated anyone in ten years." I admitted it. Caesar's expression was filled with shock and surprise when he heard what I said, which made me laugh. However, that is the truth. I haven't dated anyone in the last ten years. I went on a few dates and had situational relationships with a few men, but that was it. I've never had a serious relationship. And it wasn't simpl