to solve a problem (you follow it back to the start)

6- Eight years, a relic and some long awaited answers.

VERONICA

6 months later

"Hi, uh, Heather...'s phone. I don't really know how to address this thing," Veronica begins. Despite being alone, she can feel her cheeks warming up with embarrassment. "This is Veronica. Today is January 10th, and it's been six months since we separated, and now we're officially divorced."

Veronica sinks further onto the warm fabric of her couch. In her quiet apartment, the sound of her voice echoes through the living room. She takes in a breath and continues.

"Hm, when I saw your phone in my mailbox I swore to myself that I was going to throw it away or mail it back to you, but I couldn't, so I just shoved it in the drawer and kept it there for months. The reason I'm talking to you, well, I'm not actually talking to you, but you know what I mean," she stammers.

Why is this so hard?

"I miss you. I know that I shouldn't, and I don't regret my decision, I know that it was the logical thing to do but still, there are days that my heart doesn't care about logic and I find myself thinking about you."

Veronica guesses that is one of the perils of keeping your ex-wife's belongings, there's always going to be something of theirs for you to cling to. Veronica had been strong for the past six months, and she's proud to say that there were times that she forgot about Heather and everything that happened. There were times when she thought she was over it, over her, and that she was healed. But then she saw something that reminded her of Heather and she fell right back into square one.

This time, she found Heather's red scrunchie in the glove compartment of her car; it might have been in her head, but Veronica could swear that it still smelled like her, that wonderful mix of strawberry and expensive perfume. The fact that it happened so close to the six-month anniversary of their separation only made things worse, and that was how Veronica found herself sulking on her sofa with Heather's phone clutched in her hand.

For the first time, she turned the phone on and she heard Heather's voice, sobbing and saying goodbye to her, she heard the three minutes of unfiltered honesty that ended up with Heather saying I love you for the last time.

"The worst part is that I can't talk about this to anyone, because they won't understand. So here I am talking to your phone," Veronica continues. "But yeah, I don't really know what else to say, actually. Bye, I guess."

***

1 year later

"Hi, Heather," Veronica begins. "It's been a year since our split, and it's been around six months since I talked to you. A lot has happened. I met someone. Well, I re-met someone. Jason Dean, my boyfriend from high school. We stumbled upon each other at a seven eleven, he gave me his number and, we started talking and the rest is history, I guess. JD is a great guy, he's smart and caring, and for the first time in a year, I actually feel happy again. He doesn't know about you yet, he knows I'm divorced and that I was married to a woman but that is about it. But I feel like it's time to tell him, we're getting pretty serious and I don't want to hide things from him. I didn't tell him earlier because it wasn't something that I liked to talk about, but now I feel like I'm ready to let you go."

***

5 years later

"Hey, Heather. It's been a long time since I've touched this holy relic," Veronica says. The first time she turned on the phone after their breakup, Veronica was sitting alone in her sad and quiet apartment, but now she could barely remember the last time her house had been quiet. "Anyway, the reason why I'm doing this right now is because JD came up to me the other night, telling me about this article he found online, called the 36 questions if you can believe it."