Then I asked the thing that weighed on me the most.
Why did you lock the door?
Emilia burst into laughter.
“Because Sarah almost came in on us ten minutes ago. If he saw the dress, in five minutes he knew the whole family.
Daniel points to the camera.
I was taking pictures for the seamstress. He had to see how the material falls and where adjustments are still needed.
Suddenly, the sentences heard from the hallway gained a completely different meaning.
“Stay straight.”
“Turn around.”
“Your mother will cry when she sees this.”
I felt a strange combination of relief, shame and anger.
Not because something inappropriate happened between them.
It was because I came to imagine the worst of the man I had lived with fifteen years.
The same evening, after the party ended, Daniel and I were left alone in the kitchen.
I’m sorry,” I said.
He was silent for a few seconds.
– For what?
“What it crossed my mind for.
Daniel didn’t tell me I was crazy.
It didn’t make me jealous.
He didn’t reproach me for not trusting him.
“If I had heard the same things without context, I would probably have asked myself questions.
I looked at him surprised.
Aren’t you angry?
I am a little hurt. But I’d rather ask me than ignore something that makes you uncomfortable.
Then he added:
“And I had to be more careful about the way I talk to Emilia. Good intention does not automatically mean that any wording is appropriate.
That sentence stayed with me.
We didn’t turn the incident into a family joke.
I didn’t even start punishing myself for being vigilant.
We did what we should have probably all done from the beginning:
We talked.
