I Was The Temporary Guest In The Home I Helped Buy Chapter 09

I Was The Temporary Guest In The Home I Helped Buy Chapter 09

My work in Seattle went smoothly. I had not accomplished anything remarkable yet, but my manager consistently praised my work.

Tessa became my first friend in the city.

She took me downstairs for breakfast burritos, got lattes with me whenever the second cup was half off, and

went to the movies with me after work on Fridays.

One day, she looked at me and said, “Nora, it’s good to see you coming out of your shell.”

I smiled.

“Was I really that quiet before?”

She considered it.

“When you first got here, you were like a locked wooden box. No one could get a sound out of you or pry you

open.”

“What about now?” I asked.

“Now you give me a hard time right back.”

She laughed, and so did I.

After I became a permanent employee, I rented a new apartment.

It was small, but it had a little balcony and an assigned parking space downstairs.

On the day I signed the lease, a member of the building management staff asked, “How many vehicles would

you like to authorize for permanent garage access?”

I gave her my license plate number.

After entering it into the computer, she asked, “Would you like to add anyone else as an authorized user?”

I paused for a second.

“No.”

“Just me for now.”

She smiled and handed me a form.

“All set. From now on, you can drive straight into the garage.”

That evening, I drove home.

The moment the gate rose, the rain stopped.

There was no unauthorized-vehicle warning, no humiliating delay, and no one blaming a system error.

I pulled into my own parking space. The white lines were crisp, and there was plenty of room.

The garage lights came on one after another.

A message appeared on the display.

[Nora Bennett, welcome home.]

My throat tightened.

Apparently, having a place no one could erase me from was not so difficult after all.

A few days later, the receptionist at work told me that a package had arrived.

The sender was Graham.

Inside the box were a car key, a building key fob, and a note.

[Your plate is now the only one authorized for the parking space at the house.]

[You can come back anytime.]

I stared at the key fob for a while before placing it at the very back of a drawer.

I did not throw it away, but I never used it either.

It reminded me how desperately I had once wanted to be acknowledged.

It also reminded me that I would never again have to beg anyone to make room for me.

I later heard from Owen that Graham had sold the house.

After the wedding was canceled, the Mercer relatives gossiped about the family for a long time. Graham’s mother even went out of her way to avoid anyone she knew whenever she went grocery shopping.

Sabrina had not managed to take my place as Graham’s bride either.

She had assumed that once she drove me away, she would become the next Mrs. Mercer. Instead, Graham’s mother immediately turned on her and accused her of bringing nothing but bad luck.

The two of them once got into a screaming match outside the complex. Someone recorded it and posted the

video in the group chat.

Sabrina cried, “I wasn’t the only one behind that agreement?”

Graham’s mother shouted back, “If you hadn’t kept chasing Graham, his wedding never would’ve been called

off!”

I did not open the video.

Watching them tear each other apart was not worth the storage space on my phone.

Elise sent me a message.

Elise: [The settlement payment should arrive this week.]

Me: [Thanks for everything.]

I turned off my phone and went back to revising my proposal.

My new project was a parking-garage wayfinding system for a mixed-use development.

On the opening page, I wrote one line:

[Everyone deserves a clear path to where they belong.]

My director nodded after reading it.

“That’s a strong concept.”

I looked at the screen and suddenly felt that everything had turned out all right.

The things that had once left me humiliated had eventually become part of the path carrying me forward.

A year later, I was promoted.

Tessa insisted we go out for Korean barbecue to celebrate.

The tabletop grill hissed, and smoke from the spicy marinade made our eyes water.

She raised her glass of sparkling lemonade.

“To Nora-promoted, better paid, and permanently free of awful men.”

I tapped my glass against hers.

“Thank you.”

My phone vibrated.

A bank alert appeared on the screen.

[Deposit received: $50,000 principal plus interest.]

A moment later, several messages arrived from an unknown number.

Unknown number: [Nora, the debt has been paid in full.]

Unknown number: [I took a loss on the house, but that was the price I deserved to pay.]

Unknown number: [I’m sorry.]

I read them without replying.

Tessa set a strip of short rib on my plate.

“Eat it now. Leave it on the grill any longer and it’ll turn tough.”

I smiled and lowered my eyes.

Outside the Korean barbecue place, Seattle was bright and lively after dark.

Halfway through dinner, Owen sent me another message.

Owen: [Graham got drunk tonight and cried so hard it wasn’t pretty.]

Owen: [He said he wished he’d come downstairs to get you that night.]

I read the messages and felt nothing.

Tessa leaned over.

“Who is it?”

I placed my phone facedown on the table.

“Someone from my past.”

She nodded and did not ask anything else.

After dinner, we walked to the parking garage together.

The night breeze felt warm and slightly damp against my face.

At last, the rain from my old life had stopped.