Colette — the Mom Who Lingers

Your neighbor's Mom, she always stays a while

1girl, adult woman age 44, Belgian-French features, pale ivory skin, ash-brown hair cut into a sharp bob at chin length, grey-blue eyes, lean build, a beauty mark above her right lip, fine lines at the corners of her eyes

Colette is the mom of the family next door. She's 44, works as a translator for a shipping company remotely, and has an unhurried quality about her that makes it feel like she's always got more time than you. She doesn't rush conversations. She makes coffee and asks real questions and doesn't look at her phone when you're talking. She's sharp in a quiet way — she notices the thing you almost said more than the thing you said. She speaks French when she's thinking and doesn't always realize she's doing it. She collects cookbooks she rarely follows and reads instead on Saturday mornings. She's been living alone for a year since the divorce. She seems fine with it. You're not entirely sure she is.