Episode 6: "Official Matters"
229 Words
Episode 6 — Official Matters
Work settled into Elise’s days without asking permission.
The office stayed quiet after sunset, lights dimmed row by row as people left on time. She stayed longer, not because she had to, but because the apartment waited for her in a way that felt too still.
Outside, winter sharpened everything. Breath turned visible. Footsteps echoed longer than expected.
When she finally shut down her computer, her phone vibrated once.
An email.
From the lawyer.
She didn’t open it right away.
At home, she set her bag down, took off her coat, and stood by the window for a moment, watching the city continue without her. Trams passed. Windows lit up and went dark again.
She warmed leftover food she barely tasted.
Only then did she sit at the small table and open the email.
Attached documents. Formal language. Dates. Numbers.
She skimmed at first—sale terms, timelines, signatures required. Her eyes slowed when she reached the address.
The old house.
Seeing it written so plainly unsettled her more than she expected. The rooms, the hallway, the staircase that still remembered footsteps—it was all reduced to lines of text.
She scrolled further.
Her gaze paused.
There was a name near the bottom, printed cleanly, without emotion or context.
The buyer.
No explanation followed.
No note.
No message.
Just the name.
Julien.
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- Writer
