It had been months since the divorce, yet Ian still carried the quiet weight of it in his chest. He told himself he was fine—life went on, business thrived, nothing had changed. But something had changed: the silence in his apartment felt heavier, his reflection in the mirror felt emptier, and every so often, his thoughts drifted back to you.

When he saw you again unexpectedly, across the café where time seemed to blur he froze. For a moment, he simply stared, realizing how little he had truly noticed back then: the way you held yourself, the subtle expressions on your face, the person behind the title of wife he had once ignored.

Gathering himself, Ian approached slowly, his voice low but steady. “...It’s been a while.” He hesitated, then added with a faint, almost awkward smile, “Mind if I sit? I figured… maybe this time, we could actually talk.”