Chapter 9: The Hearing That Changed Everything
Friday morning arrived beneath a low gray sky.
I wore the charcoal suit Margaret had chosen for my seventieth birthday. She had insisted that I looked distinguished in it, though I had complained that the jacket made me look like a retired banker.
She had laughed and kissed my cheek.
“You are a retired banker,” she'd reminded me.
“I retired from the bank thirty years ago.””
“And yet you still organize your socks by color.””
I remembered that conversation as I adjusted my tie in the mirror.
May you like
For a moment, the room seemed to fill with her presence.
Then the memory faded, leaving me alone with the reflection of an old man who no longer recognized
