Chapter 15 - The Neighbor Who Remembered Everything
Another knock sounded at the door.
This time everyone instinctively looked toward it.
The security officer opened it carefully.
Standing outside was Helen.
My seventy-year-old neighbor carried a homemade apple pie covered with a towel.
She smiled warmly.
"I thought you might need—"
Then she noticed the crowded apartment.
"...company."
Her smile disappeared.
"Oh."
I laughed softly.
"Helen, come in."
She stepped inside and immediately recognized Mark.
"I haven't seen you in years."
Mark forced a smile.
"Hello, Helen."
She looked around.
"Did I interrupt something?"
Vanessa answered,
"Only the complete destruction of Mr. Dawson's evening."
Helen nodded thoughtfully.
"I picked a good time then."
Even Rachel smiled.
Helen placed the pie on the kitchen counter.
"I heard shouting."
"I'm sorry."
She waved dismissively.
"This building has thin walls."
Then she looked directly at Mark.
"I always wondered if you'd come back."
Mark frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Helen shrugged.
"You always left when life became difficult."
Nobody expected that sentence.
Mark looked uncomfortable.
Helen continued casually.
"I remember when Laura stayed awake three nights in a row helping you finish your first business proposal."
Emma turned toward me.
"You wrote his proposals too?"
"Some."
Helen laughed.
"Some?"
She shook her head.
"Dear, she practically built that company with him."
Mark became irritated.
"You weren't inside our marriage."
"No."
Helen smiled kindly.
"But these walls were."
Everyone fell silent.
"I heard Laura practicing presentations with you."
"I heard her answering customer calls after midnight."
"I heard her teaching you accounting because you hated numbers."
Mark looked away.
Helen sighed.
"You know what I never heard?"
Nobody answered.
"Thank you."
The words landed harder than any accusation.
Helen picked up a framed photograph from the shelf.
"This was taken during your tenth anniversary."
She handed it to Emma.
"Look at Laura."
Emma studied the picture.
"She's smiling."
Helen nodded.
"Now look at Mark."
Emma looked again.
"He isn't."
"No."
Helen placed the photograph back.
"He was already looking somewhere else."
Mark whispered,
"That's enough."
Helen smiled sadly.
"No."
"For twenty years she stayed quiet."
She looked at me.
"I don't think she needs anyone speaking for her anymore."
I squeezed Helen's hand gently.
"Thank you."
She smiled.
May you like
"I only came to bring pie."
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