At 9:03, someone knocked on my office door.
Not Daniel.
Eleanor.
She had a distinctive knock.
Three light taps.
A pause.
Two more.
“Rachel?”
I didn’t answer.
“I’d like to speak with you.”
I stared at the door.
Another knock.
“I made tea.”
That almost made me smile.
Eleanor could convert any crisis into tea.
I opened the door but didn’t invite her inside.
She held a small tray.
Two cups.
A plate of toast.
For a moment, she looked almost maternal.
Then I remembered the doorway.
Her folded arms.
The calm expression while Daniel stood over me holding clippers.
“I don’t want tea.”
She glanced behind me.
“May I come in?”
“No.”
Her lips pressed together.
“All right.”
She placed the tray on a small table in the hallway.
“Daniel went out.”
“Where?”
“He didn’t say.”
I nodded.
She studied me.
“I want you to know I didn’t expect him to shave that much.”
