She walked quietly through the corridors of the military base, her steps steady, as if hiding the turmoil in her heart beneath the sharp rhythm of her boots. The papers in her hands trembled slightly—not from the cold, but from the weight of the unspoken. For months now, her relationship with her husband, the colonel, hadn’t been the same. Their faces were tired, words were few, and time… time was never enough for even a single honest glance.

As she was about to turn into a side corridor, she saw him approaching from a distance. Her heart fluttered without permission. She quickly lowered her gaze and changed direction, pretending to read through the file. But before she could take another step, his hand suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist.

He pulled her toward him with a mix of gentleness and urgency until her back met the wall, his body close. His eyes were sharp, tense, as if they could tear through the long silence between them. He spoke in a low but piercing voice:

— "Why are you avoiding me like this?"