A small round mirror sat on the bar. Jason had already left with Nina. After some thought, Royce slipped the mirror into his pocket. He carried over the tea latte and cookies he had prepared and walked towards the girl.
"Blueberry tea latte, and cookies," Royce sat down across from the girl. There weren't many customers at the moment, so he had some spare time to chat with his girlfriend. He loved how empathetic she always was during her conversations with Jason.
"Thank you, darling!" Cathy responded with a smile, picking up the latte and taking a bite of the cookie. She then held it up to Royce who was looking at her with affectionate eyes, "Have you made up your mind? If we move to the outskirts, you'd have it a bit easier."
"I don't want you to have to drive forty or fifty minutes to school every day. The rent here is a bit high, but we're close to the school, and I'm okay with it. We'll make it work," Royce softly touched her face, "I know it might be more tiring, but..."
"No, darling, we've already decided." This time Cathy didn't heed his words. "Listen, we've settled it, hear me out, don't make things so hard on yourself!" She gently brushed the cookie crumbs off Royce's mouth, before eating them herself.
Royce was helpless against Cathy's teasing, so he nodded, "Alright, Cathy, I hope this decision doesn't affect you."
"Of course not, darling. I found a great house on the outskirts. It's cheap, a bit secluded, but we can live there without any disturbances. Just the two of us..." Cathy's words were tempting, making Royce nod involuntarily.
After leaving the cafe, Nina looked sideways at Jason all the way home, "Are you this friendly with everyone?"
Jason glanced at Nina and said, "Do you mean now or in the past?"
"All of it!"
"Well, I wasn't very sociable in the past, and I'm trying to change that now. Some people can get accustomed to loneliness, and it might come off as a bit exaggerated when they try to change. Like how I was today," Jason explained, "I used to prefer solitude, living in the forest, rarely going to the city or participating in social events. But that doesn't mean I can't..."
"Of course you can!" Nina scoffed and stopped speaking.
After this encounter, Nina seemed fond of chatting with Jason. But Jason kept late hours, leaving early in the morning and returning late at night, usually around one in the morning.
Two days later, when Jason came back past one in the morning, he found Nina at the front desk. She called out to him, "Hey, Jason, can you wait?"
Jason stopped, shrugged, and asked, "What's up?"
"Can we chat?" Nina asked, "It won't take long, just a bit."
Jason nodded and leaned over the counter, looking at Nina with a focused gaze, "Don't tell me you've fallen for me, Nina. That's not your style. We only shared a cup of coffee."
Nina's face turned red at his words. She took a deep breath and said, "Listen, mister, don't flatter yourself. You bought me a coffee, I thought you were a nice guy, so what I wanted to say is...never mind, forget it."
"Go on, I'm listening," Jason said lazily.
Nina nodded and glared at Jason, "Listen, I'm saying this as a friend. I don't know what you're up to. But...Los Angeles is not heaven, it's hell, especially in this district. Drug dealing, prostitution, shootouts, robberies... Any crime you can think of can happen here."
Jason patted Nina's shoulder and said, "I know what you're trying to say. Don't worry, good girl, I'm not here to commit crimes, nor will I let criminals bother me. I have my principles. I promise you, I'm a law-abiding citizen. Sometimes..."
Nina couldn't help but laugh, she punched Jason's chest lightly, "Get back to your room. And stop looking at my chest, I'm not going to sleep with you. Plus...someone left a message for you, the same person from last time, the one you missed when we had coffee."
Jason took the envelope from Nina, blew her a playful kiss, and then slowly walked upstairs. He opened the envelope in his room and found a note inside.
A drawing of a castle with a massive, leafy tree in front. The tree completely obscured the castle. Above the castle, the sky held only a crescent moon. No words, just this drawing on an ordinary piece of white paper.
Jason frowned. He didn't understand why someone would send him such a drawing. But he knew that his actions were attracting attention. The sender was definitely no ordinary person. But they weren't an outsider either, Jason was confident about that. He could identify all outsiders wherever he went.
As for who noticed him, Jason didn't care. He charged for his services anyway. If people needed his help, it was a good thing.
Truth be told, after staying at the motel for a while, he was ready for a change of scenery. The main elements of the drawing were a large tree, an old castle, and the moon. Jason didn't find it hard to guess what these elements represented – they were probably indicating that something strange or peculiar was happening here.
He decided to put that aside for now. Because, from what he could see, the person who sent it didn't seem to be in a hurry for him to figure it out. They had only sent a note. After some thought, he picked up the phone in the room and dialed the front desk.
"Hey, Nina, it's me, Jason!" he said.
"I know it's you," Nina's voice came from the other end, "Sorry, we don't offer special services here. If you want, why don't you go pick up someone at the bar?"
"Do you really care if I bring a woman back?" Jason laughed, then cleared his throat, "Alright, I just wanted to tell you, if someone else brings you a note for me, tell them that I'm still too busy."
There was a pause on the other end, then Nina's voice came again: "Okay, I got it, goodnight!" She hung up the phone. It was clear from her tone that she was somewhat upset with Jason. Maybe because he hadn't invited her to his room?
Meanwhile, Royce had been in high spirits these past few days. Cathy had rented a house – a villa. Although it was located in a somewhat remote area, it was large and beautifully decorated. Even more amazingly, it came with a pool and a gym.
The two of them had visited once and decided to take it on the spot.
"God, I can't believe this is our love nest!" Royce exclaimed excitedly, standing on the balcony. From here, he could see the pool in the backyard. The shimmering reflections on the water made him feel slightly dizzy.
Thud! Suddenly, he collapsed heavily onto the floor.
"Royce..." A voice rushed to his ear, and a beautiful face appeared in his sight. He knew it was Cathy, but he couldn't feel anything at this point. The world seemed to spin around him, and then he slowly closed his eyes.
After what seemed like a long time, he slowly opened his eyes. It was getting dark outside. Cathy was sitting next to him, her brow furrowed, staring blankly out into the living room, seemingly lost in thought.
She didn't notice that Royce had woken up. This was the sixth time he had fainted in the past few days. This time when he woke up, he didn't see Cathy's concerned gaze. Jason's prophecy echoed in his mind. He started fainting the day after their conversation, and it was happening more frequently now. With that thought, he reached into his pocket and felt the small round mirror.