Romans & histoires Time Apart

Still, a working day like any other and, as such, he would not be able to spend the holidays with his family as he does every year. He would break the news that evening at the group call. In fact, even managing to organize a call with the whole family was an epic feat. Everyone's work schedules and the fact that they lived in four different time zones didn't make it easy, Especially since the two most problematic time zones were his and George's, thirteen hours apart. This meant that, in turn, the two brothers had to put up with their sister's rants and their mother's worries as soon as they woke up. It was torture that would have made even a saint lose patience.

Beyond time. Always.

Lena said. They hadn't spoken in six months, not properly, not beyond the occasional text exchange or a photo sent without much commentary attached. It wasn't estrangement exactly. It was simply the particular distance that had settled between them since Clara moved abroad, the ordinary erosion of time zones and different lives and the unspoken agreement neither of them had ever stated outright, that some conversations were easier to have less often than to have badly and frequently.

Nate comes back to the table, and points at her, “Oh yes, while I remember… Could I borrow your phone for a bit, Sis? I got you that SIM card yesterday. I’ll set it up and maybe we can try and call your family later. You’d know when would be the best time to call them.” She nods and puts a finger between her eyebrows and rubs it thinking, “What’s the time difference again?” George smirks, “They’re an hour ahead.” She nods, “Okay, and the time here now is?” Nate looks at his watch,

I never do. Eighteen hours. That number keeps replaying in my head, detached from everything else, like it’s its own separate thought. Eighteen hours since I left the country. Since I put physical distance between myself and Devin. Since I made the decision everyone keeps telling me was necessary, strategic, unavoidable. I hear those words in other people’s voices, layered over each other, dull and reasonable and completely useless

Rowan didn’t answer. His eyes stayed fixed on the top corner of the screen on the timestamp ticking forward in quiet precision. Seconds. Minutes. Then A skip. So small it almost passed as nothing. Rowan’s fingers stilled. “There,” he said. Taryn stepped closer. “What?” He pointed. “The time.” She leaned in, squinting slightly. “…it jumps.” “Yeah.” “By how much?” Rowan dragged the cursor back, slower this time. “Forty-seven seconds.”

He knew that her career was important to her now, but he could not accept it at all because it was for a year. There were 365 days in a year, which meant that they would have to be in a state of separation for 365 days. Moreover, Winsterdam was not close to Detroit. It would take more than two hours if they drove at high speed on the whole highway. He would still be able to accept it if it was a nearby city, like the small town. It would take him forty minutes to drive there, so he could go back and forth every day in the worst case scenario. However, it would be too exhausting to be driving for more than two hours back and forth!

Knox and Dan are laughing now too, I am trying not to, trying to be kind, but really struggling, thinking he surely can’t be this crazy. “Dude, there is a massive time difference. That is why you fool. You are still in the air for ten hours.” Gabe says, punching his brother-in-law playfully in the arm. Diego just looks confused. “But it is only two hours after we left though.” he mutters. Making us all laugh even more. Knox puts his head in his hands “My nephews and nieces will have his genetics running through them, goddess help them!” he mutters to me, making me laugh harder.

“Alright. I’ll call you every few weeks, okay? Just so we can talk.” “Feel free to call me whenever you need. Just keep in mind that our time zones are different. I am five hours ahead of you, so it may be late there, but it is the early morning hours here, and it is only a few hours from dawn here, alright?” “Did you leave the states? Is that why you never came back to the business meetings? I know that Dominique also stopped going to them after a year or two. I always wondered why she seemed disappointed when she came home from them. She finally gave all of that up so we could spend all of our time together and with our family.”

You've had your pillow wet several times. So yes, it's too late. Because the feeling has already been dissipated. And it depends on time. Time runs differently for everyone. It's unfair to judge someone who decides to start over in three months, without taking into account what that person had tried in a year. Love happens, I heard it once. Yeah I agree. Yes, it happens, when you open the door for it to happen. Love happens when we least expect it, but it also happens when it is built, little by little, from a friendship. There are few who know about it. And they usually only realize it when they're crying. But now it's no use. It's too late".