The Wrong Bank

The Wrong Bank

On Tuesday, Maya was due to sign _____ for a flat with her brother, Ben. Delayed at work, she texted him: ‘Please bring the papers to the bank at six. I’ll meet you outside.’

To Ben, ‘the bank’ meant their usual _____. He hurried there through light rain, with the folder under his coat. At six fifteen, Maya was still absent. Meanwhile, she was waiting outside _____ with Mr Clarke, the letting agent. The office closed at half past six; without the signed papers, they might lose the flat.

Maya rang, but traffic drowned out Ben’s first reply. Annoyed, she said, ‘I wrote “the bank”. Where else would I mean?’

Ben looked at the wet path and dark water. ‘The place beside the river, obviously. You always call it the bank.’

For a moment neither spoke. Then Maya saw what had happened. Her message had named a place with two meanings and had not mentioned the appointment. She told Mr Clarke, who agreed to wait inside while Ben took a taxi. Maya clarified that she meant the glass-fronted bank on High Street, not their seat beside the river.

Ben arrived before the doors were locked. They signed the document that would secure their new flat, and Maya showed him her original text. He added one word—‘branch’—then handed back her phone with a tired smile.