Iris carries both coffees up the fire escape. You offer to help; she reminds you that you once dropped an entire birthday cake on these stairs and remain on probation. Dora's rosemary has grown across the path. You move a pot, then another, until there is room for two chairs. Iris tells you about restoring damaged prints at the museum. You say it must be nice to have stayed somewhere familiar. Her smile thins. Is that what you think I did? Wait here until you came back with interesting news? You begin an explanation and hear the excuse in it. Instead you ask about the print on her phone. She shows you how a tea stain can be lifted without removing the lake beneath it. Soon she is talking with her whole face. You ask what work she wants next. For a moment she looks startled. There's something I should tell you. Let me have this afternoon first. You move your chair out of the sun so hers can stay in it.
A weekend in your grandmother’s bookshop. A box of unsent letters. The person you never quite said goodbye to.
Listen closely. Choose carefully. Carry the consequences.
Every path leaves a different story.