Erich and Erika continued to live each day of their lives while barely making contact with one another. There were a multitude of reasons for this behavior, but chief of which was the fact that Erika was quite perturbed that she had been forced to retire from her career so early in order to play the role of a dutiful wife for her new husband. While Erich simply could not get over the fact that this woman had once cost him his relationship with his mother.
The couple was married in name only, for they had neither consummated their marriage, nor held any significant feelings for one another, except for perhaps animosity. Thus, Erich's peaceful life away from the military went by in a flash of an eye as he lived out his days in a cold and loveless marriage.
