Grabbing my bag, I threw it on my back, quickly grabbing my keys and a snack bar to fulfill my need for breakfast, but due to being late, hadn’t had time for my usual cereals and fruit.

“Shit,” I muttered, looking at the clock on the wall, “Bike it is,”

Grabbing the keys from the bowl next to the door, I open the door, quickly turning around and locking it. As I move towards the stair, Sophie’s door appears in front of me, the scratches still there, reminding me of everything that had happened a few months ago.

Sophie now continues to live in her apartment, although, from what I’ve seen, she now has about five different locks. She no longer leaves flowers outside her door, probably preferring not to dilly-dally and go straight into her apartment, locking everything up. Her windows were replaced, and also have locks, something she had promised me she would do the moment everything started getting back to normal.

Everything seems to have gone back to normal, but at the same time, everything feels so different. 

I now meet up with Sophie once a week for dinner at the restaurant beneath us, a way for us to keep in contact and make sure we are staying well. At first, it was more for her to have someone to lean on, but now, it’s almost as if I depend on her, I need to see that she is okay, that, even if my effort probably would have been futile, I took the right choice in calling the police instead of helping her.

How things would have changed if I had done that.

But, according to my phycologists, it’s better not to think about the what-ifs of the past, and best to focus on the present and future.

Running down the stairs, I wave at the porter. He’s also changed, although not physically, he also blames himself for what happened to Sophie, and everytime she walks back, he looks away guiltily, sad.

The police investigated him to see if he was in any way related to the incident, but he came out clean. The kidnappers had just been smart, and had managed to slip passed without him noticing, something I don’t think he will never forgive himself for.

But that’s life.

We all make decisions, and they will affect us and the people around us for the rest of our life. Maybe if he had seen them Sophie would have been fine, or maybe not. Maybe if I had helped Sophie we would have been fine, or maybe both of us would have been kidnapped, or worse. Maybe if Sophie had stayed and worked extra hours everything would be the same as always… But it’s not, and no amount of wondering about the past will help that.

I hope you enjoyed this short story! It's taken me ages to finish, but it's finally here! Give it a like and share if you enjoyed it! ❤️️