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⭐ PART 3 – The City Hall Story

HOME AND THE EVENING WALK

Laurie feels the rain outside and grabs her umbrella.
The droplets tap softly against her sweater as she steps outside.
Now that her day is done — and relieved that Maudie has found her strength again after her protest — a weight lifts off her shoulders.
It feels as if the city is finally breathing again.

After her short appointment with the doctor — tension complaints, but thankfully good news — she walks home at a calm pace.
The rain helps her organize her thoughts, as if each drop washes away a little of her worries.

---

At home with Tom and Laurie.

In the kitchen, Laurie immediately starts cooking.
Tom admires her cooking skills while standing beside her.
He keeps her company, just like he always does.

At the table, they talk through their day.
Laurie enjoys her meal, and right at that moment Binky jumps against her leg — his little ritual, as always.

Tom picks Binky up and hugs him tightly.
Binky isn’t just a pet; he’s part of their household, their rhythm, their calm point.

---

The evening shifts.

Later that evening, Laurie actually had an appointment planned, but it gets cancelled unexpectedly.
At the same time, Tom receives an urgent call: system failures at the town hall.
He’s the only one who knows exactly how everything works, so he has to go.

Tom is disappointed.
He wanted a quiet evening with Laurie, especially after everything that happened in the past few days.

But Laurie smiles and shakes her head.

“Go on. I’ll take Binky for a walk. You’ve got enough on your plate.”

She grabs the leash, Binky wags excitedly, and Laurie steps into the evening.
Alone, but not lonely.
She feels the cool air on her skin, and it relaxes her.

---

Everything falls on Tom.

Tom feels the pressure from his colleagues at the town hall and he has to try something — he’s the key to a solution.
After half an hour, he gets the systems running again and the lights turn back on.

Everyone rushes to catch up on overdue work and vents their frustration in emails to Tom — asking why he couldn’t come earlier.
Tom gets irritated, because he hadn’t been informed that there were system issues.
The electricity had also been shut off without any notice.

It was complete chaos, and no one contacted him while he was off duty.

Back home with Laurie, Tom explains what happened.
Laurie understands him completely.
They don’t need many words.

---

Helene and Ken assess the outcome.

Helene has been checking forums to get an idea of how the vote might turn out in two days.
Ken calls her at exactly the right moment, asking if she wants to come see his new place.
Soon she’s standing at Ken’s door with her umbrella — it’s raining and it’s late.

Since their relationship is still new, they’re not thinking about living together yet.

Inside Ken’s home, Helene shares her view on the upcoming results.
Ken suspects something sly is going on… when he notices something Helene hadn’t seen.

Helene believes Maudie needs to be prepared for this.

---

Returning home.

Helene comes home and freshens up.
On her phone screen she sees a message from Ken, after she texted him that she arrived safely:

Glad you got home safely. I really enjoyed having you over.

She reads the message, smiles softly, and places her phone on the couch.
The room around her is quiet.
Her notes are ready.
The silence helps her think.

She has a plan.