The Visit

Management was pleased to receive a visit from Mrs Bell. Since retiring she had not been in, and we thought she might like to see what we had done.

Her husband was having his hearing aids fitted next door. She had an hour to wait.

“Is the couch still here?”

We took her to our office.

“And does it still open?”

We showed her. She sat on the edge and took off her shoes.

We said we had been meaning to replace it. She pressed a palm against the cushion and said there was plenty of life in it yet.

We began to tell her about the new contract. She asked whether we would mind drawing the blinds.

Our next appointment was some way off. We drew them, then sat down at our desk. It seemed unnecessary to leave our own office, particularly when Mrs Bell had come to visit us.

For a little while we sorted the objects on our desk. Mrs Bell lay with her eyes closed.

“Would you like a cup of tea?” we asked.

“Afterwards, perhaps.”

We took our diary into the corridor. At the door we turned to tell her we could spare an hour, but she had pulled the blanket over her shoulder. We closed the door carefully.