The old refrigerator had been replaced by the management company after its compressor failed.

“I thought I’d never come back,” Maya said.

“You never had to.”
“I know.

But I wanted to.”
She touched the counter where she had once steadied herself after surgery.

Her eyes filled, but her voice remained calm.

“Your mother kept telling me no one would believe what was happening because we lived in such a nice building.

People think comfort is whatever they can see from outside.”
Mrs.

Flores quietly apologized.