January 2021

Emilie had reacted exactly as I expected her to react when Isabel showed up at her door with me in tow. I found my heart pounding in anticipation of seeing her again as we took the elevator to her fourth-floor apartment. The building was old and kind of ugly, though it looked sturdy and stable.

Emilie greeted Isabel with a smile and then her face went from warm and friendly to cold and angry the second her icy blue eyes came to rest upon me. They argued momentarily in German and I insisted in English as I began to step away that I would get a hotel.

“One hour,” Isabel pleaded with Emilie. “Just one hour.”

Finally, Emilie relented. She fixed us some coffee, including me, and we sat in her living room chatting. It was actually a pleasant visit even though I was ignored almost the entire time and Emilie would look at me scornfully whenever she did happen to look in my direction as I sat across from her and next to Isabel.

I didn’t mind being left out of the conversation. I wasn’t really in a talkative mood at the moment anyway and I was content to simply enjoy the cushiony softness of the loveseat I sat in while I sipped my warm drink. I was unable to understand some of what they were saying as it was since they spoke mostly in German.

Instead, I casually and curiously glanced around the apartment. I tried to do it in a way that wouldn’t seem too obvious and as if I was prying with my eyes or anything like that. The apartment had a feminine and somewhat vintage appearance. The dominant colors were various shades of blues and oranges which didn’t surprise me since Emilie once told me those were her favorite colors. The colors of the sky and sunset.

The one-hour visit turned out to be over three hours. It was then decided that we would hit the road back to Leipzig before an expected snowstorm arrived.

Life went on…until Isabel was killed in a car accident one week later.