THE SPACE BETWEEN US

scream. It just waits

-

me before the

ng had

lking underwater-every sound muffled, every motion slowed. The air felt too heavy, a

d shopping bags, laughter and purpose in their steps. I wondered what it would be like to be one of

rtment, my phone was vibrati

ou see

epl

cus?

pa

h

think he

n't r

lready knew

write an overdue report. But my thoughts kept circling back to Marcus-Daniel's longtime driver, a man who b

re to spy? Or had he j

ing Lillian's building...

h would

n and I were no longer sp

and tense silences, both of us trying to anticipa

ht, I go

sn't

as M

voice smooth as e

stopped.

. Man t

bo

bout what h

de, away from the glass towers and

we

. A waitress in a faded blue apron poured coffee from a steaming pot. Marcus sat in

red for

e?" he

ok my

over. "You

a

se. Then he

aw y

ded s

ifteen years. I've seen a lot. I've kept my mo

t infidelity," I sa

uiet look. "You thin

d. "So why

Because I haven't told him.

hy

uestions. Because he's suspicious. And because I don't li

don't h

ardened. "No, E

ard. "So what

tudi

is love... or j

wasn't the que

w," I said.

dangerou

sto

her to run. Either way, thi

ay, Daniel

e brought chocolates for the staff and shoo

ticed th

in advance now, never impromptu. His gaze, once casual, now seemed to scan the room for in

ixed with power,

setting

were th

illian called m

breathe,"

e are

Just parked. Wat

come g

spered. "Just

I d

out the way Daniel was moving-slow, methodic

we do?" s

dn't

d once believed in escape was

y, we were

the lie

aster. The thrill that had once made our secret fee

take a break. "To p

argue. But

was protecting-my career, my san

balcony, sipping cold coffee

e connecting over shared loneliness. A conversation here. A glance there.

et, I

oth

etween us h

was swallow

, the sto

w meeting. Half the team was present, including Dan

pres

interru

fy why the projections in Q3 are off by 12% w

idn't know the answer-bu

tion was

y, pointing to a sh

, as if s

n. "And you didn't ca

at me, just

he said

l smiled. "I

hat, he ended t

eft. Excep

d to the window, ha

h the idea that loyalty mattered. T

le

"But sometimes peo

t me. Then

't you

r of u

pped c

ught you in. I defended you w

illian. "And I

"So tell me-how long

n landed li

ply. I felt the bloo

I sta

el held

ve

ed to t

ve. Effective immediate

over his

r I'm ending a partnership..

he wa

cried th

ut the kind of crying that bre

d everythin

her. "We did

e of us had

, mascara runnin

n his way. And

her, but she

now who I

her

sleep th

rning, sh

n

mes

abs

wed, Daniel didn't spe

HR. A formal investigatio

ped looking

ispered i

d feared most: the sto

use I wa

forget that every secret

ones that are l