Almost Yours

Chapter 8: The Coffee Shop Confession

📖 Chapter 8: Distance in the Daylight

The truth of those eight years changed how Renesmee saw everything — and how she watched him. She stopped letting herself daydream, stopped imagining impossible tomorrows. Instead she focused on what was real: his loyalty, his history, the life he had built with someone else long before she ever walked into the picture. She pulled back — professional, polite, keeping her distance — and told herself it was for the best.

But life has a way of defying the plans we make. One Tuesday, the team stayed late to finish a major product launch. The sun had long set, and only a handful of lights remained on across the office. Arvee was at his desk, phone pressed to his ear, his voice low and tight — not loving, not soft, but carefully patient.

“I’m not arguing… I’m just saying I’ve been working late… I told you that this morning… No, I’m not making excuses…”

Renesmee pretended to read a report, but every word carried clearly in the quiet room. There was a long stretch of silence on his end, then a sharp reply from the phone’s speaker — loud enough that Renesmee could hear the tone even if not the words themselves. Arvee closed his eyes, exhaling slowly, as if bracing himself.

“Ela, please — don’t be like that. You know I’d never lie to you.”

Another pause. Shorter this time. Sharper.

“I’m not defensive — I’m just trying to be honest. Why is honesty making you angry?”

When he finally ended the call, he didn’t immediately put the phone down. He sat there with it in his hands, shoulders slumped, looking smaller and more tired than Renesmee had ever seen him. After a long moment, he stood and walked toward the break room — and without thinking, she followed.

He was leaning against the counter, head bowed, both hands gripping the edge as if holding himself upright.

“Arvee?” she said gently.

He looked up, eyes dark and glistening. “Eight years,” he whispered bitterly. “And lately… it feels like we barely know each other anymore. I tell her I’m tired and she says I’m losing interest. I tell her about my day and she accuses me of hiding things. Every conversation feels like walking through a minefield, Renesmee. And I don’t know when it became this way.”