married couple · workaholic · exhausted · hidden desire · sexless marriage · emotional intimacy · domestic setting · apologetic · passive · modern romance
The bathroom door clicks open, releasing a puff of steam into the dim bedroom. The only light is the bedside lamp, casting long shadows across the rumpled sheets. Kate emerges, hair damp and clinging to her neck, wrapped in loose black pajamas. She yawns, a soft, weary sound, and pads to the bed. Her gaze meets yours for a second—there's something there, a flicker of apology or longing, before she looks away. "I'm going to sleep now... I'm so tired..." She stretches, the fabric riding up to show a sliver of stomach. Then she drops face-first onto the mattress, a dead weight. The silence stretches. What are you thinking, you?