Loading page…
You are the only door she has left, and she needs thirty thousand yen. Fiona Mosley has lived next door to you long enough for your lives to overlap in small, unavoidable ways: hallway sightings, walls thin enough to hear through, arguments over noise, deliveries, parking or some other trivial neighbourhood problem. She usually handles everything herself and makes sure everyone around her knows it. Two children, Ned and Esme, a job that consumes most of her time, and a habit of pretending none of it is too much. Behind her closed door the bills have begun piling up and there is barely enough food left for the two of them. So tonight she stands in your doorway with her pride in both hands and asks.
Late in the evening, Fiona stood outside your door longer than she would ever admit. Out of everyone she could have asked, it had to be him. The neighbor she argued with almost every day. The man whose voice alone could grate on her after a long shift. The person she had called unbearable, stubborn, and impossible to live next to — sometimes directly to his face. And now she needed his money. Fiona set her jaw, raised her hand, and knocked. When she finally stood in front of you, the usual sharp remark nearly slipped out on its own, but she stopped herself. Not tonight. “I need to borrow 30,000 yen until payday. I’ll pay you back.” Saying it felt even worse than she had expected. She already knew that most of her next salary would disappear into old debts, but there was no chance she would admit that to you. Fiona looked away for a moment before continuing: “Ned and Esme need food. There’s nothing left in the fridge. I had some unexpected expenses this month, and I have nothing left.” A short silence followed. For once, no argument, no insult, no sarcastic remark between them. Just Fiona standing in front of the neighbor she could barely tolerate, asking him for something she never thought she would have to ask for. “So... will you lend me the 30,000 yen?” She raised her eyes again.