Glocara-5

The next morning, the landlady of the inn found Glocara and handed her an envelope.

"A gentleman left this for you last night, asking me to give it to you," she said.

"Thank you," Glocara replied, taking it and opening it. It was a letter from Elin, instructing her to take it to the hospital for job hunting.

"There's something I need to clarify," the landlady said. "If you're going to have a man stay overnight next time, you need to let me know beforehand."

Glocara shook the envelope between her thumb and forefinger, slipping it into her pocket. "He didn't stay here overnight."

"I know, not last night. I'm just explaining the rules here. As long as nothing illegal is happening, your private life is none of my concern. But I rent you a single room, and if you want to share it with someone else, that person needs to pay rent too. Of course, I don't mind such occurrences."

"Don't worry, there won't be a next time."

"Then it's fine. Have a pleasant day." After taking a couple of steps, the landlady turned back. "That gentleman seemed very courteous."

Glocara frowned. She had no doubt this was just the landlady's friendly gesture. She returned to her room, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling out the letter she hadn't read in detail in front of the landlady. The letter used formal language to attest to her clean background, suitable medical knowledge and skills, and was unsigned, with the seal of the Seventh Office being the real authority. Another small piece of paper, no larger than a fingernail, fell out of the envelope. She unfolded it.

--- Don't let them know you like to smoke!

This was a completely different handwriting, much more scribbled than the official letter, and even the ink color was different. Glocara couldn't imagine Elin sitting there, neatly writing phrases like "sincerely" and "morally commendable, praised by all," but she could almost see how he quickly scribbled this note in two seconds, then stuffed it into the envelope—perhaps just before handing it to the landlady. She put the letter away, leaving the additional note on the bedside table, then left the room.

The Seventh Office's introduction letter proved to be effective, even though the hospital staff seemed somewhat awkward when reading it. Eventually, she found jobs at two hospitals, one for day shifts and the other for only two evenings a week as temporary work. This meant she had twenty percent less rest time compared to working at the funeral home, but she earned ten percent more income. Glocara felt it was fair. Another benefit was that on the way to these two hospitals, she didn't have to pass by Mrs. Rosalind's old house and the neighbors who used to know her.

In the evening, she returned to her hotel room, pondering whether to throw away the pipe and tobacco, but ultimately wrapped them up and put them deep in the drawer. There was a knock on the door, and she hesitated before opening it. Standing outside was Elin. Glocara had imagined what it would be like to meet Elin again, and her associations were filled with adjectives like awkward and uncomfortable, but she never thought Elin would show up in front of her again the next day, holding a bouquet of flowers.

"I know I picked a beautiful bouquet, you can see it however you like," Elin said. "But let me in first, okay?"

Glocara stepped aside from the door, looking at the bouquet and then at Elin's smiling face, feeling like a lost bird, light and free in body but confused in mind. She widened her eyes, raising her left hand, unconsciously pressing her lips against her index knuckle.

"This is for you," Elin handed her the bouquet.

"I... I have nowhere to put it."

"Oh, a vase. I completely forgot about such an important thing. How foolish of me. But it won't happen." Elin's left hand, which had been hidden behind him, took out a small vase. He placed the bouquet in it, placing it on the windowsill. "Now everything's in order."

Glocara said nothing, looking at the bouquet. The colors were bright but not flashy, because there was enough generous space between the petals, leaves, and veins for the sunlight to flow freely. A gust of wind blew in through the window, and the flowers swayed slightly, and she began to worry that the wind would blow the vase off.

Elin walked up to Glocara, putting his arms around her waist. "Did you use the introduction letter I left you today?"

Glocara didn't look at his face, her gaze passing over his shoulder. "I carried it with me, found jobs at two hospitals..."

At this point, she suddenly felt the sudden ringing in her brain again, just like when she almost fell asleep next to him last night. She quickly pushed him away.

"What are you doing?" she said.

"I came to see you, brought a bouquet of flowers. A man gives flowers to a woman. Is that crazy?"

"No, I mean... I don't..."

"You seem unsure of what to say, Glocara."

"Last night's events won't happen again. I don't want you to bring flowers. Or a vase."

"I thought we had a pleasant time last night."

"It stops here. We shouldn't have... Thank you for the introduction letter, I found a job. That's it."

Elin took a step forward, embracing her again, looking into her eyes. "Are you saying last night was a one-time thing? Look at me, Glocara. Tell me honestly, tell me what you really think. Do you really want last night to be a one-time thing, and want me to take the flowers and vase and leave this house? It's easy to do, really, not difficult at all. I can let go now, get the vase, and say goodbye to you. I'll go downstairs, throw the bouquet and vase in the trash, because their owner has abandoned them. Of course, I can do that, but the question is, do you really want that? Answer me. If you can't decide, I'll help you count to three. I'm starting now. Three. Two."

"I just feel like something's not right," she said. "We started off just talking about Qiaozhen... about your daughter and all. I never intended to... I feel like I made a mistake. You've helped me a lot, I'm grateful, but I never intended..."

"Don't talk nonsense, Glocara. That's not some kind of repayment."

"But I still feel like something's wrong."

"Wrong? I don't know where it went wrong. You know, my job basically involves finding other people's mistakes everywhere. Witnesses, evidence, you name it, I can tell if the other party has made a mistake through them. When a criminal confesses their mistake, they feel a sense of relief. But you don't. Look, your skin is tense. And your eyes... Unfortunately, your gaze is very unstable, which indicates that you're likely lying—admitting to a mistake that never happened is a lie. And," he touched the edge of her lips with his thumb, "when a criminal confesses their mistake, they say it very directly. Let's see what your lips will tell me." He kissed her, then continued. "Unfortunately, they didn't say anything. You're innocent, Glocara. You haven't made any mistakes."

No matter how much she warned herself to be careful, Glocara began to get excited. She lifted her hand, which had been hanging by her side, to embrace Elin's back, but he let go after a brief kiss.

"I have to go," he said. "I have work tonight. I almost didn't have time to bring you the flowers."

"Oh." Glocara took a step back.

"Anyway, today is a good day because you used my introduction letter. It's time to move on, this room isn't worth its rent. Have you already thought about finding another place to stay?"

"I will. Whenever I have time."

"That's good. Oh, one more thing. Elaine will be coming home for a couple of days in a while. I want you to meet her."

"Meet your daughter...?"

"Of course. My daughter."

"Why?"

"You don't need a very clear reason for something like this, right? I've told you a lot about her yesterday and asked for your opinion, so I want you to judge whether my view is wrong. Of course, that's just a forced additional reason. In reality, I just really want you two to meet, that's it."

"But it feels strange. Listen, it's one thing between you and me, but then immediately meeting your daughter..."

"Here you go again. If you can't pinpoint what's strange about it, then it's unnecessary worry. Don't think too formally about it. Are you free this weekend? I'll come pick you up, so don't move to another place for now. Remember that."

After Elin left, Glocara leaned against the closed door, hands resting behind her. It took several minutes like this before she felt she could think clearly. She knew Elin was deliberately pulling her into an unknown life quickly. The implications of immediately meeting his daughter after last night's events were also hard for her to accept. As Elin's breath dissipated with the night wind blowing into the room, Glocara finally understood how he had attracted her and indeed suspected that he had, to some extent, used the topic of his daughter to evoke her emotions—yet no matter how much she forced herself, she couldn't muster any repulsion, or rather, her slight concerns paled in comparison to her other feelings. That small piece of paper reminding her about smoking. And the bouquet of flowers—they were truly beautiful, whether simply because of their color and shape, or because of other factors at play. In the past, men had given her flowers, but she had never gazed at those bouquets with such an irresistible longing. When Elin mentioned throwing them away, her heart immediately began to ache. She left the door, sitting back on the bed. Glocara knew she did indeed want Elin to still be around, even if there were hundreds of things wrong in her throat that she hadn't said.