Chapter 10 - HELGA HAD JUDGED HER FIRST.
Helga stood up.
Not quickly.
That would have looked like escape.
She carried her empty coffee cup to the sink even though it was already clean.
Alexander watched her.
"Mom?"
Helga set the cup down.
Bianca was still on speaker.
Nobody spoke.
Finally Helga turned.
"She's right."
Alexander frowned.
"About what?"
"I started declining invitations before the birthday dinner."
Bianca exhaled through the phone.
"Thank you."
Alexander ignored her.
"Why?"
Helga sat again.
"Because I didn't like being around her."
Bianca laughed bitterly.
"There it is."
Helga continued before Alexander could react.
"I thought she was rude."
"Based on what?"
"The way she spoke to waiters."
Alexander's eyes narrowed.
Bianca snapped, "Oh, please."
Helga shrugged.
"You asked."
"No, Alexander asked."
"And I'm answering."
She looked at her son.
"The first dinner I attended with Bianca, she sent a steak back twice."
Bianca said, "It was undercooked."
"Maybe."
"It was."
Helga nodded.
"Then the server brought another one."
"Yes."
"And you said, 'I don't know why this is so difficult.'"
Bianca was silent.
Helga continued.
"The waitress apologized three times."
"Because the order was wrong."
"Correct."
Alexander waited.
Helga leaned back.
"The order being wrong didn't bother me."
"What did?"
"Bianca never looked at her."
Bianca scoffed.
"That is ridiculous."
"Could be."
Helga's voice stayed calm.
"I still noticed."
Alexander looked toward the phone.
Bianca spoke.
"So you decided I was a terrible person because I had bad service."
"No."
Helga smiled faintly.
"I decided you were a person who became less polite when the other person couldn't do anything for you."
The silence that followed had weight.
Alexander looked at his mother.
That was judgment.
Clear.
Sharp.
Bianca had been right about that much.
Helga saw it on his face.
"I told you I wasn't perfect."
"No."
Alexander nodded.
"You did."
Bianca spoke.
"And after that, every single thing I did became evidence."
Helga considered it.
"Probably some things."
"Some?"
"Yes."
"You hated my friends."
"I didn't know your friends well enough to hate them."
"You made fun of the wine."
"It was terrible."
Alexander covered his face for a second.
Bianca said, "See?"
Helga almost smiled.
"That was rude."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
For the first time, tension shifted into something almost ordinary.
Two women who disliked each other admitting it.
No recorder.
No hierarchy.
No performance.
Just dislike.
That was easier.
Then Bianca said, "So maybe I got tired of being judged."
Helga's expression hardened.
Alexander noticed.
"There."
Bianca continued.
"Every time you walked into a room, I felt like I was being graded by someone who already decided I failed."
Helga nodded.
"I understand."
"You do?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"And you called me a cleaning woman who smelled like bleach."
Bianca stopped.
Helga's voice remained level.
"You being judged does not make that sentence less ugly."
Alexander looked down.
Bianca had no immediate answer.
Helga continued.
"I can apologize for being rude about your wine."
Alexander nearly smiled.
"I can apologize for deciding too quickly that you cared more about appearances than people."
Bianca remained silent.
"But I will not apologize for noticing how you treated me after you knew I had spent years working in homes like yours."
Bianca's voice changed.
"I didn't know how much that bothered you."
"I told Alexander."
Helga looked at her son.
He flinched.
"Not me," Bianca said.
"Correct."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Helga thought about it.
"Because I didn't trust you."
Bianca laughed sadly.
"Exactly."
Helga nodded.
"Exactly."
Alexander leaned forward.
"This is the first honest conversation any of us have had about this."
Neither woman thanked him for the observation.
He continued.
"Mom, you judged Bianca."
"Yes."
"Bianca, you knew Mom had worked for Ewald."
"Yes."
"And you used that history when you were angry."
Silence.
"Yes," Bianca said eventually.
Alexander looked toward the recorder.
"Then we have facts."
Helga gave him a tired look.
"You sound like a lawyer."
"Sorry."
"You're not one. It's irritating."
He smiled briefly.
Then he became serious.
"Bianca, I need time."
"How much?"
"I don't know."
"Where am I supposed to go?"
Alexander frowned.
"I'm not throwing you out."
"You don't have to."
Bianca's voice had sharpened.
"Your mother is there. You're not coming home. I can do math."
Helga said immediately, "Go home."
Alexander looked at her.
"What?"
"Go home."
"I'm not leaving you because—"
"I am seventy-two, Alexander. I bought groceries this morning without supervision."
"Mom."
"Go talk to the woman you're building a life with."
Bianca said nothing.
Helga continued.
"And don't use me as the reason for whatever you decide."
Alexander looked down.
That was harder than choosing Helga.
Choosing Helga could be framed as loyalty.
Choosing for himself required responsibility.
He picked up the recorder.
Helga stopped him.
"Leave that."
Alexander frowned.
"Why?"
"Because you're not carrying evidence into a relationship conversation like you're a detective."
He set it down.
Then his phone rang.
Ewald.
Alexander stared at the screen.
Bianca said quietly through the speaker, "Answer it."
He did.
"Ewald?"
The older man's voice came immediately.
"We need to talk."
Alexander looked at Helga.
"About what?"
"The money."
Alexander's expression hardened.
May you like
Ewald continued.
"And about something Bianca apparently didn't tell either of us."
