Mom’s moving in. It’s already decided.
Not a question.
Not even an attempt at a conversation.
A declaration.
She had been sitting at the kitchen table finishing a work report when the message appeared.
At first she had honestly believed she was misunderstanding it.
So she read it twice.
Then she called Mark.
“What does ‘already decided’ mean?”
His answer had sounded almost casual.
His mother needed somewhere to stay for a while.
Her rent had gone up. She hated her apartment. She was lonely.
Lisa could not take her because Lisa needed her spare room for work.
That detail had stayed with Claire.
“So Lisa’s office is protected, but mine isn’t?” she had asked.
Mark had replied that Claire only worked from home three days a week and they could move her desk upstairs.
They.
As if Claire had already agreed.
As if moving her work space was nothing more than carrying a chair up a flight of stairs.
