Chapter 4: Two Meetings in One Day

"Maya, Alex wants to see you."

Maya jolted at the sound of Bernard's voice, snapping her out of the trance that had held her since the morning. She looked at him and asked, "When did he arrive?"

Bernard's face showed signs of surprise as he replied, "He came about an hour and a half ago. Didn’t you see him?"

"An hour and a half," she repeated, then looked at her wristwatch to find it was already ten o'clock. She closed her eyes, muttering to herself, "Has all that time passed without me noticing?" She then rose heavily and walked toward Alex's office.

Bernard watched her with concern. He didn't know her very well, but he could tell she wasn’t herself today. He called after her, "Maya, are you sick?"

She only gave him a reassuring smile before entering the office and closing the door behind her.

When she entered, he was on a call, his head bent over the desk as he wrote something down. She walked to one of the leather chairs and sat down without waiting for an invitation. It was strange that she hadn't noticed his arrival, and he must have passed by her to enter his office. But it wasn’t surprising; she had been lost in thought all day, trying to find a solution to the problem between her and her mother. It was clear to her that morning that her mother was very angry with her. The solution was simple—two options: either she would leave the narcotics unit, or she would convince her mother. Since the first option was impossible—at least not until she had avenged her father—she was determined to pursue the second option, hoping God would help her.

She raised her eyes to find Alex watching her. It seemed he had finished his call some time ago. Noticing the redness on the left side of his face, she asked, "Do the burns still hurt?"

"They're not burns anymore," he replied calmly. "Just a bit of redness that, I've been told, adds to my charm."

With a cold tone, she responded, "How fair—you become more handsome while my paycheck gets docked."

"You were careless."

She raised her voice, reminding him, "You were there with me. Why didn’t you give me one of your brilliant solutions that you mentioned in the report, or do they only come to you when seeking revenge?"

"Revenge?" he repeated with surprise. He paused briefly, then added, "You think I docked your pay out of revenge? Sorry to disappoint you, but if I wanted revenge, I’d make it real—not just dock your pay."

Maya replied slyly, "Yes, real revenge, just like Creek did on your behalf. Oh, by the way, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but Creek says he avenged himself, not you as you claimed."

His eyes narrowed slightly before he said, "I know that."

"Then why did you lie?"

"Because I was worried about him."

With a half-smile, she said, "Worried about me?"

He corrected her, "Worried about him because of you, not worried about you. Now, I think it's time to get to work." He then handed her a stack of photos from his desk and continued, "I need you to go down to the case file storage section and look at the files from last year. I want you to find these individuals in any heroin-related case, no matter how small."

Flipping through the photos in her hands, Maya asked, "Are you serious? Out of everyone, you choose me to search through old files for these lowlifes?"

Organizing his desk with indifference, he said, "And is there any reason for such arrogance?"

"Yes, definitely!" she shouted. "I’m the highest-ranking officer on your team, so give me tasks that match my level."

"Oh, really? Like pouring coffee on people’s heads?" he retorted.

"Go to hell!" she yelled before storming out, slamming the door behind her.

"We’re going to lunch now, Chief."

Alex looked up from his pile of papers and said, "Knock before you enter, Creek."

"Hey, a while ago, Maya entered without knocking, and I didn’t hear you scold her."

"That’s because I was on the phone."

"No, it’s because you’re afraid of her."

With exasperation, Alex sighed, "Go now, and be back here at precisely two o’clock. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir." Creek started to leave but paused when Alex called after him, "Creek, hasn’t Maya returned yet?"

Creek furrowed his brows and replied, "No."

"You haven’t seen her?"

"I haven’t seen her since she left your office."

"Alright, go."

Creek left, and Alex began to wonder where Maya could be. He had sent her to check files from just one year—someone with her experience shouldn’t have taken more than half an hour, not three hours. He had completely forgotten about her, but she wasn’t a child needing constant supervision. Sighing heavily, he left his office and headed to the storage section. The clerk’s desk was empty, so he went straight to the file storage room and opened the door quietly. He hated this vast, dark room filled with hundreds of thousands of files. He went to the section for last year's files but was surprised to find that Maya wasn’t there.

She really does need a babysitter, he thought as he headed for the door. But before his hand touched the doorknob, he heard a low, muffled sound—like someone groaning. He froze for a few seconds in shock, then followed the sound until he found its source: behind one of the large filing cabinets at the far end of the room, he found Maya. She was sitting on the floor, leaning against the cabinet, her elbows resting on her knees, and her forehead pressed firmly into her palms. Beside her was a file, its papers scattered around. She was crying—deep, heart-wrenching sobs.

Alex leaned against the other side of the same cabinet. He didn’t need to be a genius to know what file was next to her. It had to be the case that detailed her father's death. My God, why did I send her here? Why didn’t I consider that she would search for the file that contained the details of her father’s final mission—the one that took his life? Hadn’t John specifically asked him yesterday to keep her away from anything related to her father?

Her sobs grew louder, and so did the ache in his chest. It’s painful to watch someone cry when they don’t know you’re watching. It’s painful to see someone mourn a person who’s gone forever. It’s painful to see a woman cry.

He gave her one last glance, then walked away. What could he possibly do for her?

It was fifteen minutes before two o'clock when Alex saw her enter the room carrying a stack of files. He called out to her before she could sit at her desk, "Maya, come in here."

She entered and stood before him. He looked at her—her face, her eyes, her nose—all red, but it seemed she had stopped crying a while ago as there were no tears left on her face. She felt uneasy under his gaze and asked rudely, "What?"

Raising his eyebrows, he replied, "What? How remarkable! You disappear for four hours, then casually say, ‘What?’"

She responded coldly, "If you don’t like it, write a report and dock my pay. It’s that simple."

He smiled and said, "That’s the problem—I don’t want it to be that simple for you. Since money doesn’t seem to matter to you, I thought of writing another report—a report requesting a demotion."

Her red eyes glistened as she whispered, "Why are you such a jerk? How long will you keep punishing me?"

"A jerk? Punishing you? You’re insane, you know that? You abandon your post during surveillance without taking any action, then vanish for four hours without letting me know anything. And yet, I’m the jerk?"

With venom, she shot back, "You know what? I don’t blame you. How could I, when I know half your blood is that of that scoundrel, Frederick?"

Alex shot up from his chair, teeth clenched, and began to say, "You little—"

But he didn’t finish his sentence because Creek burst into the room, shouting, "Please, just another half hour!" Bernard and Bob followed closely behind.

Alex quickly turned his gaze to Creek, his anger still simmering, but it wasn’t Creek’s fault. He took a deep breath and said, "Get back to work, Creek."

Creek pleaded, "Please, Alex. I’ll be back by two-thirty, I swear. Just let me go back to the café. Oh God, you didn’t see how stunning she was."

Turning to Bernard, Alex asked, "What’s wrong with him?"

Bernard laughed and answered, "On our way back here, he saw a redhead at the café across from the station."

Bob added, "The problem is she’s way too young for him. I’d bet she’s still in middle school."

Creek exclaimed, "But she’s gorgeous! Her outfit was stunning. Can you believe it, Alex? She had silver eyes! I’ve never seen a girl with silver eyes before!"

"Oh, that can’t be," Maya interjected. "Quickly, tell me where she went."

Creek stammered, "Uh, she’s still at the café across from us."

Maya hurried out of the station and headed for the café, her mind racing. How did she get here? When did she arrive? Wasn’t their flight supposed to be the day after tomorrow? Could it be a girl with similar features? No, that’s impossible. If she’s in the café across from the station, she must be waiting for her. Besides, Maya doubted there was any other red-haired, silver-eyed teenage girl.

She entered the café and immediately spotted her sitting at a table in the middle, as usual, drawing attention to herself. The happiness was evident in Maya’s eyes as she saw the girl in front of her, fiddling with her phone out of boredom. She approached quietly and gently said, "For heaven’s sake, how did you get here?"

The girl dropped her phone, jumped out of her seat, and ran to Maya, wrapping her arms tightly around her neck. Maya returned the hug with love, then kissed her head and asked, "How are you, Nina?"

Nina replied cheerfully, "I’m good. How about you, Mom? Did you miss me?"

Their conversation was interrupted by a voice exclaiming in disbelief, "Mom?" Maya turned her head to see a stunned Creek standing at the café’s entrance, clearly having followed her. Teasing him, Maya said, "What? Don’t you like her anymore now that you know who she is?"

Creek responded, "Wait... You have to explain this to me, but just give me a moment." He disappeared for a few seconds and returned, saying, "Alright, Maya, you can introduce me to her now."

Smiling, Maya said, "As you wish. Nina, this is the great Lieutenant Creek, my colleague. He’s the one who told me there was a stunning redhead in the café. Creek, this is Nina, a first-year high school student."

Nina flashed a charming smile and said, "Hello, handsome. It’s nice that someone thinks I’m stunning."

Creek, astonished, said, "Someone? I swear everyone in the world would find you stunning. You’re—"

Maya interrupted him, "Stop. That’s a trick she uses to get people to keep complimenting her, so—"

She fell silent when she saw the café door open, and the other three men walked in. She turned to Creek and said, "I can’t believe you called them!"

"They wouldn’t have believed that you have a daughter. They had to see for themselves. Hey, don’t say a word," he said, turning to call the others over.

When they reached them, Alex asked coldly, "So what’s the life-or-death matter, Creek?"

Creek laughed and said, "Don’t rush it. First, let me introduce you to Miss Nina. Miss Nina, these are Bernard and Bob, Maya’s colleagues. And this is Alex, our leader."

Nina exclaimed as she shook their hands, "Wow, Maya, you’re so lucky—they’re all handsome."

Maya muttered as she sat down, "Unfortunately, I don’t see them that way."

"Alright, you can sit," Creek said.

As the six of them gathered around the table, Alex, who seemed to be losing his patience, said, "I’m still waiting, Creek."

"Why are you so grumpy? Okay, fine. Now, can you guess who this girl is to Maya?"

Bob hesitantly guessed, "Her sister?"

"No."

Bernard tried, "Her friend?"

"No, and since Alex is in a bad mood, I know he won’t guess, so I’ll just tell you—she’s her daughter."

The three men were silent for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. Creek shouted angrily, "You idiots, I’m telling the truth!"

Alex smiled at him and said, "I bet everything I own that she’s not."

Bernard added, "Don’t be mad, Creek. We can easily find out by asking the girl’s age." He then turned to Nina, "How old are you?"

Nina took a bite of a biscuit and laughed, "I’m fifteen."

"See? She can’t be her daughter."

But Bob pointed out, "Actually, she could be. Maya is twenty-eight."

Maya raised her eyebrows, surprised by Bob's naivety, and said with a smile, "Thanks, Bob, for telling everyone my age. I was just wondering how to do that."

Bernard, trying to steer attention away from an embarrassed Bob, asked Maya, "Did you get married at twelve?"

"Yes, to a seventy-year-old man, and we lived in a cave, milking cows for our milk. Now, the investigation is over, and we’ll be going home because this girl just arrived today from her trip," Maya said, rising from her seat.

Nina, clearly enjoying their company and conversations, said, "Actually, I’m not tired."

Creek exclaimed, "See, Maya! You can stay a little longer, or you can go, and I’ll take her home later."

Maya stood behind Nina and grabbed her head with both hands, directing it toward Creek. "Dear Creek, look at her carefully. She doesn’t have silver eyes; she’s wearing silver-colored contacts. So, leave her and go find a real silver-eyed girl," she said before heading to the door, Nina smiling as she followed.

"But she’s still beautiful, and I still love her!" Creek shouted.

Maya turned to him, holding the doorknob, and said loudly so he could hear, "That’s why they say love is torture," before walking out with Nina behind her.