Stayed in a small inn for three days, Glocara never expected any visitors. However, when the knock came on the third night, she had an inexplicable intuition about who it might be.
"Hey," Elin said, "I came to see how you're doing."
"I've told you I don't like being watched."
"Relax a bit, nobody's watching you twenty-four seven. You know our agents only knock on someone's door at night for two reasons: either there's been a murder, or it's purely out of personal interest."
Before Glocara could inquire about the so-called personal interest, Elin had already entered the room. He took a quick look around, spending only ten seconds, as this was the cheapest single room in the rarely visited small inn.
"It's leaking badly here," Elin remarked, looking up at the corner of the ceiling. "You should ask for another room. I can talk to the landlord."
"I'm pretty sure other rooms aren't much better. If you looked up in the hallway just now, you'd understand."
Elin sat on the only chair, and Glocara noticed he was holding a small square package.
"What are you carrying?"
"It's not something crucial, but I'm glad you're interested." He placed the package on the table, tapping it lightly as if petting a small animal. "We'll reveal it later. How's your job search going?"
"Well..."
"Glocara, can you sit down and talk? There's no need to stand there with your hands on your hips like you're about to kick me out. I don't see you planning to chase me away immediately."
Although Glocara found it odd how the situation turned into Elin correcting her hosting manners, she sat on the edge of the bed.
"I've visited several funeral homes. The manager of the first one was willing to talk, but the other two refused as soon as they heard my name."
"Not surprising. The circle in this line of work is narrow; they must have heard some... fabrications from your former employer. You should consider changing careers."
"Yeah, I should."
"Have you thought about checking hospitals?"
"Not in my plans."
"I can introduce you to a few places. Don't get me wrong, it's not prearranged. I'll just provide a reference to prove your clean background, and the rest is up to you."
Glocara remained silent, shaking her head.
"You're doing it again. I know you initially turned down the hospital job offered by Jorgen, but it doesn't mean you have to despise the whole industry."
"I understand your point... But it's like someone throws you a bone, you say no, then you go find another bone to pick up elsewhere. I just feel uneasy."
"That's just you forcing yourself to think that way. Honestly, if Jorgen had a twin sister, I'd say it'd be you."
"What do you mean?"
"You're both good at helping others, but even better at refusing help. The difference is in how you refuse. His rejection is masculine, like: 'I'm strong! I can strangle a lion with one hand! When I lift my foot, there are not just one but two cockroaches on the sole! I don't need your help! Get out of my way, nuisance!' But yours is feminine, like: 'So what if I'm a woman? You, a clueless male chauvinist, don't think every woman is waiting for you to rescue them, at least I'm not. You may have thirty percent sincerity, but more likely sixty percent is to take advantage of me. I don't need you, I can do just fine on my own.' Of course, sometimes these refusals are just superficial, and you both certainly don't hate those who offer help. It's all from a personal perspective; Jorgen might temporarily abandon this bad temper for work. Temporarily. It's extremely difficult for you to actively seek help, so when such situations arise, the assisting party will bear significant responsibility. It might even break their backbone."
"Your words aren't entirely unreasonable, but..." Glocara paused. "Why am I sitting here listening to you dissect my temper like a corpse?"
"Just proving that my visit here is purely personal. MI7 won't pay me for this."
"I'm not sure if you're purely analyzing me or indirectly complaining about Jorgen in front of me. Regardless, you're causing trouble for me."
"No, this can also be seen as finding common ground between us. You complained about Jorgen first."
"Since you know that, don't say I'm so much like him. I don't like to hear that."
"No problem, no problem. I wasn't planning to say those things anyway."
"Do you have something else in mind then?"
Elin raised his thumb to his forehead, index finger picking at his eyebrow.
"Well, I have some questions. Because of a weird reason that I can't explain myself, I feel like only you can provide answers."
"I don't like this opening. If you say something too weird..."
"Relax. It's perfectly healthy, because it's about my daughter. Yes, I have a daughter, I mentioned her last time, didn't I?"
"I remember." Although still somewhat concerned about the upcoming topic, Elin's slightly embarrassed expression aroused Glocara's curiosity with goodwill.
"My daughter, her name is Elaine. She's, uh, twelve... no, thirteen years old now. She used to be very obedient, I mean extremely obedient, even seemed a bit timid. I know these two descriptions don't seem logical, but you should understand what I mean. Ahem, what I said about the past, it's just a few months ago. That is to say, she's always been like this, but in such a short time, she's changed a lot. Like, whoosh, overnight. I've read some books that say children go through rapid changes during puberty, but now she's outright rebelling against me at every turn. Do you think this is normal?"
"Well... why do you think you can get answers from me?"
"Firstly, you're a woman. And I know you were very independent at her age. I also know other women who fit these two criteria, but this matter can only be discussed with you. Anyway, I'm sitting in front of you, saying it out loud. So don't ask about my motives or anything, I just want to know if you have any thoughts."
"It's hard to say... It's normal for kids to suddenly become disobedient at this age, as you know. But I think I'm really not suitable to provide answers. Because I was independent from a young age, but that was out of necessity, and there's not much similarity between that and your daughter's situation. I think you'd better ask... ask those mothers with daughters."
"That makes sense. But there's one more question."
"What?"
Elin crossed his arms, lowering his head, swaying his body left and right on the chair.
"Glocara, you're a doctor, a female doctor."
"...So?"
"I mean, Elaine is thirteen. Apart from her personality, there will be other changes, that's something I don't need books to know. But... um... certain specific things might dominate Elaine's changes, I don't know if it's happened yet or not..."
"Oh."
"You know what I'm referring to, right?"
"Um." Glocara glanced at the floor.
"This is important, something parents can't ignore, right? But..."
"I know what you want to say. Normally, this matter is usually explained by mothers... generally speaking."
"Of course, but that child doesn't have a mother. As her father, I naturally can't inquire, but I'm more afraid that she won't know how to handle it, and if something goes wrong... because I also don't know if she's read anything about it. If it's already happened, and I don't know..."
"You can take her to see a doctor. Do you really think your daughter won't tell you anything?"
"It's hard to say. She really can't talk to me for more than three sentences now."
"You have to initiate it yourself."
"I myself... how should I say it? Can you think of an opening for me?"
"Don't ask me, Elin. She's your daughter. I mean, sooner or later you'll talk to her about various aspects of life. She won't always be a carefree little kid. It might be awkward for you to bring it up, but is it fair to let her start the conversation? You'll have many important things to talk to her about in life, this is the first step. I can see you're really worried, and if there's only one way to alleviate that worry right now, you shouldn't avoid it."
Glocara looked at Elin, who had turned his face away, his right leg crossed over his left, still slightly swaying. This man, who never hesitated when facing anyone of the opposite sex, was now seeking her help because he couldn't talk to his daughter.
"Jorgen has an old friend named Shelley, Elaine gets along well with her, calls her 'auntie' all the time. Elaine might also talk to her voluntarily. Anyway... I think I shouldn't rush it."
In the end, he still hadn't made up his mind, Glocara thought.
"Oh, this." Elin unwrapped the square package he held in his arms, revealing a small food box hidden inside. "This is the cake Shelley made for Elaine. It's her specialty. Specifically, it's a birthday cake. Today is her thirteenth birthday."
"Today? Then why are you sitting here?"
"She's always boarding, I asked her to come home today, but she didn't want to, insisting on staying at school. I guess she has a lot of friends there who will celebrate her birthday for her. Actually, I was planning to take this to her, but somehow... I ended up coming here to you."
"You idiot."
"Are you saying I should hurry to the school?"
"No, fortunately you didn't go. You call this a birthday cake? It's at most a piece of dessert, isn't it? Where's the cream? Where's the fruit? And where are the candles? I don't believe SEVEN agents are so poor they can't even afford birthday candles."
"But I used to give her this every year. She likes it, it's Shelley's specialty..."
"No wonder she decided not to talk to you as soon as she hit puberty. I don't care how good this thing tastes, it's not a birthday cake. When my brother was twelve, I spent a whole month's salary on ingredients and made a cake a million times better than this. If I were her, I wouldn't want you to go to school either. You'd make her the laughingstock of her classmates for half a year."
"Would it be that bad...?"
"I don't know. I mean, I always thought you were a pretty smart guy, but I didn't expect you to have such a dumb idea. And you even dare to say I'm like that guy. It really pisses me off."
"That's true." Elin fell silent for a moment. "But, we can't waste it, can we? I've already made Elaine and you unhappy, I don't want to upset Shelley either. Having conflicts with three women in one night would break my record." He handed the food box over. "Here, share some of it with me. It tastes really good."
Glocara hesitated for a moment, then took a piece of cake and put it in her mouth. Elin sat beside her, waiting for her to swallow before asking, "How is it?"
"It's okay." Glocara licked the crumbs off her fingers.
"As I said."
"But this isn't a birthday cake."
"I get it."
The two fell silent for a moment, then Elin took out a small paper package from his pocket.
"I actually have something specifically for you."
"What is it?"
He opened the paper package. "Good tobacco, I reckon you'll like it."
"Put it aside."
"Don't you want to try it now?"
"I only smoke when I'm working."
"Why?"
"I've handled hundreds, even thousands of corpses, but that doesn't mean I'm used to their smell."
"Isn't it something else?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
"I mean, you smoke outside of work too. Like when we first met at the casino."
"I don't remember."
"Not even now?"
"I don't want it." She looked into his eyes.
"Okay." Elin rewrapped the tobacco and put it on the bedside table, then turned back, smiling at her. After a moment, he touched Glocara's cheek and kissed her lips.
It wasn't until everything was over that Glocara suddenly felt resistance. She was almost falling asleep lying beside him, but suddenly there was a roar in her head like a waterfall falling into a deep pool. She sat up abruptly, pushing Elin's waist hard.
"Don't fall asleep, you can't sleep here. Get out of here."
Elin got up somewhat confused, wanting to hug Glocara, but she pushed his shoulders harder, then kicked him in the back, making him fall off the bed.
"What are you doing?" Elin picked up his clothes from the floor, turning to her, his face full of confusion.
"Get out. You can't sleep here. Go, go."
Glocara pushed Elin towards the door, then jumped back onto the bed, wrapping herself in the blanket, burying her head between her knees. Only after hearing Elin leave and the door close again did she uncover herself, lifting her head from between her knees. She looked at the indentation Elin left on the sheets, cupped her warm face in her hands, and sighed.