Veronica sat on the floor of Logan's apartment with her legs crossed and held the teacup in both hands like it was the only thing that made sense in a world that had stopped making sense. There was only the sound of traffic in the distance and the building settling every now and then.
Logan was sitting across from her with his back against the wall. He was close enough that she didn't feel alone, but he was also giving her space.
The silence between them was long, not quite comfortable but not too unpleasant either. It was the kind of quiet that comes before something big happens, like the pause before a confession that had been too long in coming.
"Uhh... this conversation is getting awkward... I shouldn't have asked that shit earlier." Logan said in his mind.
Veronica finally spoke, her voice calm but quiet. "I met Marcus seven years ago."
Logan raised his eyebrow when Veronica finally expressed her desire to speak to him.
"At a local business networking event. I was trying to get more freelance clients, and he was a sales guy who seemed genuinely interested in what I did."
"When I talked about graphic design, most people looked blank, but he asked questions—like real questions, not just polite ones."
Logan took a sip of his tea and waited. He could feel the presence detection pinging softly in the back of his mind, reminding him that Veronica was very aware of him right now and was watching for his reaction to every word.
She went on, "He was charming," and a sad smile crossed her face. "Not in that slimy, desperate way."
"Just genuinely interested in people and making connections. I think that's what made him a good salesperson."
"He could make everyone feel like they were the most important person in the room."
"How long did it take before you started dating?" Logan asked in a neutral and interested way, not in a probing way.
"Three months. He really went after me."
"He showed up at my favorite coffee shop, sent flowers to my apartment, and did all the romantic things." Veronica took a sip of tea and stared at it as if it held the answers she couldn't find anywhere else.
"The first two years were excellent. We talked about everything, like our plans for the future, buying a house, and maybe having kids."
"He was there and paying attention. I thought I had found someone who really saw me, you know?"
Logan knew more than she probably thought she did. He had been invisible for most of his life, and when someone did see him, it felt like a miracle.
"What changed?"
"He got his first big promotion in year three. Regional sales manager, which meant more work, more travel, and more money."
"He said it would only last for a short time, just a step up."
"He said, 'Give me two years, and then we'll have everything we need, like a house and savings, and maybe we can start trying for a family.'" Veronica's laugh sounded empty and bitter. "That was four years ago."
She put down her teacup and hugged her knees to her chest to make herself smaller. Logan saw how young she looked like this, open in a way that her usual polished look never showed.
As she moved, the loose wedding ring caught the light and spun a little on her finger. "There were more and more promotions."
"The regional manager became the national account director and then the senior vice president of business development. Each one meant more travel, longer trips, and bigger areas to cover."
"Three months in Tokyo. Two in London. Three more in Singapore. He comes home maybe three or four months a year now, and even when he is, he isn't really there."
"Just his body on the couch, staring at his phone, always working."
Logan could hear the tiredness in her voice. She sounded like someone who had been fighting a losing battle for too long.
"When did you know things weren't going to get better?"
"About a year and a half ago." Veronica's voice cracked a little, and she took a moment to pull herself together. "We hadn't been close in a long time. I mean any kind of physical connection, not just sex."
Logan almost spilled his tea hearing that, but he still kept his cool. "W-Why the fuck did she say that out of the blue...?" he said in his mind.
"No holding hands, no cuddling on the couch, nothing. It was like living with a roommate who didn't really like having me around."
"I tried to talk to him about it, about us, and about whether we were still a couple or just two people living together."
"What did he say about that?" Logan tilts his head full of curiosity.
"He called me a drama queen, insisting that he was working hard to ensure our future, focusing on financial security and the life we had always envisioned together." She let out another laugh, but it felt hollow.
"We never talked about anything anymore, though. I'd try to talk to him, but he'd be on his phone."
"I'd ask him to spend time with me, but he'd have to answer a work call. I'd ask him how his day was going, and he'd give me three-word answers before going back to his laptop."
Logan put down his tea and leaned forward a little. "That sounds lonely."
When Veronica's eyes met his, he saw something break in her carefully kept calm. "It's the loneliest thing in the world."
"Like being married but feeling like you're all alone, having a husband who is only there on paper and not in real life."
"I began to wonder if I was crazy, if I was asking too much, or if this was just how marriage changed after a few years."
"You're not crazy," Logan said with a lot of confidence. "It's not too much to ask for your partner to be there for you. That's the bare minimum for a relationship."
She stared at him for a long time, and Logan felt the charged tension between them grow. It was the kind of tension that happens when someone finally feels seen after being invisible for too long.
He knew it because he had lived it. For years, he had wanted what Veronica wanted now, which was recognition, validation, and someone who cared.
"I confronted him four months ago. Not just tried to start a conversation, but really confronted him."
"I asked him straight out, 'Are we still married?'" Veronica's hands were twisted together in her lap, and the light caught the wedding ring.
"I told him I wanted kids, and that we'd been talking about it for years, but he kept putting it off."
"I told him that if he would rather not build a life with me, I needed to know so I wouldn't waste my time."
"What did he do?" Logan asked while sipping his tea.
"He was mad... he told me I was selfish and that I didn't appreciate everything he was doing for us."
"He said that his job was the reason we could afford this apartment, the nice things we have, and the life I clearly took for granted." Her voice shook. "He made me feel like I was the issue. Like wanting my husband to be my husband was a crazy thing to ask for."
Logan felt a hot, immediate anger rising in his chest. Not the kind that blows up, but the calm, steady anger that comes from seeing someone be mistreated and made to believe they deserved it. "That's not true."
"You're not being selfish."
Veronica's eyes got a little bigger, as if she hadn't expected such a direct answer. "You don't think so?"
"No, of course not!"
"You're asking the person who promised to give you that when he married you to connect with you on a basic level." Logan looked her in the eye and said,
"That's not selfish at all."
"He's the one who's being selfish, putting his job ahead of his marriage and then blaming you for noticing."