#Leonie is a woman over 40, she could be your neighbor. After her divorce, she builds her new life. With neighbor Mandy she has dinner appointments of the good kind: Mandy cooks! Love also comes around the corner, with all the consequences that this entails.
There she went, on her way to Mandy. It felt not right on all sides, the alarm bells rang loud and clear. The few steps to Mandy's front door felt like climbing a mountain. She rang the bell. It was quiet for a while and Leonie was already afraid that Mandy had flown again when she heard footsteps in the hallway. Mandy opened the door. “Hai,” she said, “come on.” No kiss, not even the fleeting kiss that had been Mandy's trademark from the beginning. “Hai”, muttered Leonie hoze. “Do you want wine?” asked Mandy. Leonie shook her head. “No, water is good,” she said. No wine now. “Sit down,” said Mandy, “I just put the food in the oven, flammkuchen, takes fifteen minutes”. Leonie sat down at the dining table and Mandy took a seat across from her. For a moment they sat so silently opposite each other. Leonie looked at Mandy begging. Mandy was just rubbing her hands a little awkward.
“What's wrong with you?” asked Leonie, with a lump in her throat. Desperately, she tried to swallow the tears. “I don't know how to say it,” said Mandy. “I'm going away. Moving. Abroad. Emigrate.” A sense of panic mastered Leonie. Away? Moving? She was overwhelmed with thoughts. “But... what do you mean? What happened? I don't understand? And what about us?” She had a million questions. “I'm going to emigrate. To France. With Elis, those of the recipes”. “Is Elis... I mean, are you in a relationship with Elis?” Leonie asked in a small voice. Mandy nodded. “Yes, we've had a relationship, sort of. I thought it was over, I... “, she faltered.
“Elis and I have a long history. Elis wanted to go to France for a long time, start a bed and breakfast and especially with home-grown organic food and so on. I would go with you, and have more direct contact with the tourists, that was the plan. Then I got cold feet and our relationship changed and passed. We went our separate ways, but we stayed friends, friends with benefits, say”. For a moment, Mandy smiled. Leonie heard the story with an empty feeling inside. Mandy went on. “I bought this apartment and Elis put her France plans in the fridge for a while, but decided to continue with it, then alone. She's going next week. She told me that last week, and then suddenly I realized...” Mandy looked at Leonie sadly, swallowed and continued her story. “I suddenly realized that I have to go with her, that we belong together. It was my decision at the time, Elis totally disagreed that we broke up, and she's right, I have to go with her, I'm with her. I'm so sorry, Leonie! I know how vulnerable you are in this, and I know that without me, you might never have... never engaged in this experiment, never discovered that side of yourself, and maybe that would have been better. Maybe... if only it hadn't happened, I wouldn't have had to hurt you right now.” Mandy was silent. Leonie couldn't say a word either. She cried silently, tears ran down her cheeks.
