The next week, Emily came again.
Then she came again.
Before long, I realized we no longer needed an excuse.
Sometimes she would simply call after work and ask,
“Do you have coffee on the patio today?”
I would laugh.
“For you? Always.”
Nothing happened quickly between us.
For a long time, I did not even allow myself to think of her that way.
The age difference between us was so large that the idea of Emily ever seeing me as anything more than an old friend seemed ridiculous.
But over the months, we became best friends.
She knew when talking about Mary made me sad.
I knew when she was worried about her mother’s health.
She never treated me like a rich old man.
And I no longer saw her as the housekeeper who once cleaned my home.
Domestic Services
She was Emily.
The person I could sit beside in silence for hours without feeling uncomfortable.
One evening, we were sitting outside.
Emily looked at me and said,
“You know, when I’m with you, I never feel like I have to pretend to be someone else.”
I smiled.
“And when I’m with you, for the first time in a long time, I don’t feel like someone is waiting for me to die.”
She did not laugh.
Instead, she placed her hand over mine.
I immediately pulled my hand away.
“Emily…”
“I know what you’re thinking.”
“I’m much older than you.”
“I know.”
“People will talk.”
She smiled.
“People talked before too.”
I told her I never wanted her to feel that she owed me anything.
Not because of her mother’s operation.
Pregnancy & Maternity
Not because of the job.
Not because I had helped her.
Emily looked at me for a long moment.
Then she said the words that finally broke down every wall I had left.
“If you lost every dollar you had tomorrow, I would still come here the next day.”
I could not say anything.
For nearly a year, we simply dated.
We did ordinary things.
We went to small restaurants.
We bought groceries at the market.
I taught her to play chess, and she taught me how to send videos on my phone without accidentally calling the entire family every time.
Especially Sarah.
But then one day, she pulled me aside.
“Dad, I never saw you like this with Lauren.”
