#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.

The next morning Leonie woke up late, which was not so crazy, since the night had already been over half before they went to sleep. Ilse was already out of bed. Leonie liked the idea that she could have offered her best friend her safety that night. A few times Leonie had woken up from Ilse's troubled turmoil. After simmer for a few minutes, Leonie also went out of bed. She found Ilse on the couch in the living room. “Hey girl, did you sleep a little?” Leonie asked. Ilse shrugged her. “Well, what, but not really good.” “Breakfast then?” Leonie asked. Ilse nodded. “You only have a nice house here,” Ilse said. Leonie nodded while she turned on the coffee machine. “It certainly is. I'm very happy about it, too. It's my cabin. Here I control everything. No one can kick me out. That might have been the worst part of me, that if you decide to get a divorce, then suddenly you don't have a roof over your head. Because it was clear that I could not live in the old house.” Ilse nodded. It was clear what she was thinking about. “Is your decision fixed then? Do you want a divorce?” Leonie asked. Ilse shrugged her shoulders and another tear ran out of her eyes. “I don't know. What should I do? I can't take this, can I? And it's not the first time he's done this, is it? I don't know if I can, step over it again and risk it happening again, tomorrow or next month, or three years from now. Where's my self-esteem if I move on with him now? And on the other hand, I don't want it. I can't imagine that in a while I might have a place of my own, just like you have here.” Leonie nodded. It was also complicated, and although you could look into the future to see how this would end, it's not about the result, but about the path to it.

Eventually Ilse had left for her own home, after she had already received a few apps from Vincent about where she went and when she was planning to come home. “Now he pretends to cheat me,” Ilse said angry, but she left. Especially for her children. Leonie sent Mandy an app, “so, let her cry out.” Now she's gone again, she has to make important decisions.” She pressed “send.” One tick appeared behind the message. Leonie waited a minute. Sometimes it took a while for the second tick to appear. But now it didn't happen. It stayed at one checkmark. Leonie frowned her eyebrows. Weird. Well, maybe Mandy's phone was off, or the battery was dead, and she didn't notice.

Leonie jumped in the shower where the memories of the previous night came back. She got dressed and figured out what she was gonna do today. She looked at her phone again: still one tick. She decided to go to the woods to take a walk, clear her head.


Loading full article...