Left at City Hall, So I Called In His Life Debt novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: The Same Bench
The bench at the City Hall registry was still oak, and it was still cold.
This time it was crowded.
Muriel sat on my left in her gold jacket, with a flask in her handbag she thought nobody knew about.
The charge nurse from my unit sat beyond her, with two other nurses in their good coats, who had traded shifts to come.
Jonas sat on my right.
His thigh pressed against mine, and he held my hand on his knee.
Our end of the bench was full.
The six couples by the window were different faces, with the same grins.
The clerk behind the glass looked up from her desk and stopped.
She had kind eyes and a careful voice.
She rose, came around the counter, and stood in front of me.
"I know you," she said.
"I was here two weeks ago."
"You were on this bench alone." Her gaze went to Jonas, and the crowded row, and back. "You sent a message, and a man in a dark suit came in with his coat held behind him."
"That's him."
"I thought about you for days." She smiled, and it changed her whole face. "Are we still proceeding?"
I looked at Jonas.
He raised one eyebrow.
"We are," I said.
"Wonderful. Second window."
We did not go yet.
Down the bench, at the far end, a young woman in a pale blue dress sat very straight with a phone in her lap.
She had a bouquet she was not holding.
Her eyes were wet and furious, and she was staring at the door.
An empty space sat beside her, with a folder of forms on it.
I knew that space.
I stood up.
"Excuse me," I said, and crossed the floor.
Jonas let me go and watched, with an expression I knew by now.
I sat down beside her, and moved the folder to my lap.
"He's late," I said.
"He's not coming." She did not turn her head. "His mother called. He said, *Don't be dramatic.*"
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