In the end it happens, in some way you couldn't imagine before.

[Their love] had burned itself out, like a forgotten candle in an empty room, leaving behind a ravenous discontent.

She was tired, with that tiredness that only emptiness brings.

She found herself thinking of how it would feel to be safely trapped in his arms, with no more possibility to choose.

Separating them were two layers of brick, a few inches of plaster, and nine years of silence.

All opening moves were the same, like in chess. You don't have to come up with anything new, there's no point, because you're both after the same thing anyway. The game soon finds its own way and it's only at that point that you need a strategy.

but his eyes were too dark for her to make out any spark in them