On Saturday morning, everything felt calm and beautiful.
At the western edge of the West District, under the elevated trains roaring, a lonely house trembled slightly amidst the rumbling noise. But the people here seem to have completely adapted to the noise and are doing their own thing without being affected.
"Mother?" Willy put his hands on the armrests of the wheelchair and looked at the woman arranging her casual clothes in front of the mirror. "Aren't you going to have a rest today? Do you want to go out?"
The woman seemed a little dazed, and after an inexplicable pause, she turned around and replied with a smile, "Uh, yes, I've had a good rest." She touched the obvious dark circles under her eyes, picked up the brush, and tried to Cover up this dark blue.
"Working?" Willy continued to ask, his fingers on the armrest tightening the front of the armrest. Obviously, he didn't want his mother to return to the manor that was haunted by evil spirits!
"Uh, no, it's not." The woman shook her head. She smiled at Willy in the mirror, "I just received a call from the manor. I want to attend the union meeting as a representative of Bishop Manor."
"Union?" Willy had doubts on his face.
"Maid's union." The woman put down the brush in her hand and straightened her clothes again, with a smile on her face. "The busy days these days have brought some good results, uh..." There was something on her face again. He hesitated, as if he didn't feel right when he said it, "It's a tragedy for Bishop, but, in short, it's not bad for our family."
Willy frowned and stopped extending the topic, "How long will it take?"
"I don't know." The woman seemed to be in a good mood. She smiled and began to pack her bag. "This is my first time attending such a gathering. It is said that representatives from each estate will gather together. Summarize their respective Work, discussing salary, benefits and other issues." The woman raised her head and glanced at Willie, "Are you going? No one said you can't bring relatives, it will be held in the Lister Building. Haha, if we stay here all the time You'll never get the chance to go to a place like Ogier's crappy apartment. I'm so glad we're in the West End. It should be fun. Will you come with me?"
"Well..." Willy thought for a while and shook his head, "I'll just stay at home."
There was some disappointment on the woman's face, but also some regret on her face, "Okay. But don't worry, son, my current salary is very good. Soon, we can move to a place with more people. You can too Make some friends and it won’t be so boring.”
Willy frowned and lowered his head, seeming a little embarrassed, "I have friends..."
"Really?" The woman seemed a little happy. She was always happy to hear that her child had friends. "Who is it?" But her face immediately turned strange. Let's face it, they live in a place with no homes around them. A boy in a wheelchair, where does his friend come from
The woman frowned, "Willy, you haven't contacted that weird neighbor (Danny) anymore. He is not your friend! He is not a good person at all! Have you forgotten that we were threatened because of him? ! (Questor sent Nuo to do it before to investigate the disappearance of his brother)"
"No mother!" Willy denied immediately, turning his wheelchair behind the woman. He faced the woman and said, "Okay, let's go!"
"Okay, okay!" The woman was pushed out of the bedroom, "Wait, my name tag!" She walked around Willy. From the drawer of the bedside table, he took out a name tag with her picture on it, 'Julie', which read.
"Come back soon!" Willy warned at last as he watched his mother go out.
"Well, I'll call you when I get there." Julie smiled, stepped out of the front porch, and helplessly kicked away the gravel that someone put on the slope of the front porch, and left. .
Julie came out a little early, which was helpless because she didn't have a car. She had to walk on a deserted road for at least twenty minutes before she saw the first bus stop. And today is Saturday again. There must be many people on vacation in the West District going to Liszt in the North District to play. Julie doesn't want to be late for her first union event.
The bus to the North District stopped and stopped. Julie sat by the window and didn't mind the bright sunshine shining on her face. She looked at the gradually increasing number of buildings outside the window and counted her salary. When Live in a house in a prosperous place.
Everything seems to be going in a good direction, doesn't it? Who would have thought that, just a few days after she started working, she had been promoted twice, and Mrs. Bishop seemed to trust her when she was still there. Oh, Mrs. Bishop, we can no longer call her Mrs. Bishop. By the way, what was Mrs. Bishop’s original surname, thank you, Sher? Well, Ms. Sher, I wish her well in the future.
It seems to be the truth. The bus is a place where people's thoughts tend to wander.
As for Mr. Bishop, who seems to be a useless man, forget it, as long as he remembers to pay himself a salary, it doesn't matter. By the way, there are also the poor old Bishops, I hope they rest in peace...
When the bus stopped again, a pair of young women got on. They argued noisily, "Amanda (Mrs. Quinn's caregiver)! I only have this morning off! You can't let me sleep well." Are you sleeping?"
"Emma (the little policewoman in the North District who is interested in Benjamin)! How long have you not been with me!" Amanda forcibly pulled her friend to the back of the bus to find a seat, "Every time I look for you, you It’s all work, work! Are police officers so great? Tell me, have you left that front desk now?! Have you been on field duty once?! Huh?!”
Emma's expression turned aggrieved, and she was held silent by Amanda. It seemed that this little policewoman with big dreams was still a humble receptionist, and had not made any achievements in her career.
"Stop talking?" Amanda was not ready to let her friend go, "Who told you to go to the North District Police Station! You deserve it! Just in the South District, let your father say a few words in front of Mrs. Barton, you might It’s the police detective! You have to go to the North District! You’re asking for trouble!”
On the bus that I have stopped at several times, there are no more empty seats. Julie picked up the bag that occupied a spot next to her, smiled at the two young women looking for an empty spot, and continued to turn her head and look out the window. Where did her divergent thoughts just come to her mind? Oh, by the way, may the old Bishops rest in peace...
Amanda saw an opening. He smiled gratefully at the strange woman (Julie), pushed Emma down on the seat, and rolled her eyes like a girl, "You sit! I stand! Are you satisfied?!"
"Amanda!" Emma glared at Amanda complainingly, curled her lips, but still sat in her seat with peace of mind. I closed my tired eyes.
Is the North District Police Station busy with anything? Yes, it was so busy that the little front desk policewoman fell asleep in her seat within two minutes. As the car swayed slightly, Amanda's head shook dishonestly on the backrest, tilted, and fell on Julie's shoulder.
Julie turned back from the car window in surprise and glanced at the strange little girl (Emma) who seemed to be sleeping deeply, and then at the little girl (Amanda) who was standing aside with an embarrassed and apologetic smile, and smiled. He shook his head to show that he didn't mind. Gently readjusted the position of holding the bag. Make Emma, who is sleeping next to her, more comfortable.
Amanda seemed to notice something when Julie adjusted her posture, and asked quietly, "Hello? Are you going to the union party too?" At the same time, Amanda took out a photo of herself from her bag. The brand name was shown to Julie, who seemed to be a well-meaning woman.
Julie saw the name on the name tag clearly, 'Amanda', smiled and gently took out the name tag that was exposed in the bag, and also gestured to Amanda. "Hello, nice to meet you. Amanda."
"Me too, Julie." Amanda saw the name on the name tag clearly and felt it was necessary to introduce her friend who 'rudely' fell asleep on someone's shoulder. "Uh, this is my friend who was forced to pull me away." Went to a party. I'm sorry. Her work is a bit, um, tiring." Amanda curled her lips, obviously not sincerely saying, 'She deserves it'. This is her sincerity.
"Oh, I just heard it." Julie smiled and waved her hand, "Being a police officer must be very hard, it's okay."
"Hahaha." Amanda laughed dryly without meaning, "Yeah, hard work, haha." She shook her head, complaining about her friend's cherished job when he was asleep was not a good thing, so she changed the topic, "By the way Julie, I haven't seen you before. Is this your first time participating in such an event? I am Mrs. Quinn's caregiver."
"Yeah." Julie didn't mind chatting with her 'colleagues' in advance. After all, it was said that this party was basically a big chat. "It's the first time, oh, I work at Bishop Manor. Mrs. Sharp's exclusive maid, and then..." Julie's voice disappeared for a while, and she gave Amanda a knowing look, "Now the head maid."
Amanda opened her mouth, as if she understood, then there was regret on her face, and her voice became softer, "Oh, are you the one who arranged the funeral of Mr. and Mrs. Sharp? Those days must have been very hard. Bar."
Don't be distracted by the information revealed in this conversation, stay focused!
Julie's eyes were a little distracted and she nodded, "Well, these two things happened so suddenly..."
"Well, no wonder no one heard any news from Bishop Manor a few days ago. It's as if you all, um, 'disappeared' and no one can contact her..." Amanda looked at Julie's eyes. , she seemed to want to test something. We should know who the so-called maid union essentially serves. However, after all, this topic seemed inappropriate to discuss on the bus. Amanda shook her head, "Is it better than Mr. Sharp?"
The look in Julie's eyes gathered again, and there was an elusive look on her face. "It's okay, hum." She seemed to reveal her sincerity inadvertently, "I've already started to be interviewed."
"Interview?" Amanda's tone seemed a little uncomfortable. She had just said that Bishop Manor seemed to have lost contact for a period of time, and now it has started to accept interviews after reappearing? It’s a bit baffling! Wouldn't it be better to first explain to his 'comrades' in the West End what happened? !
"Haha." Julie waved her hand, "Not a reporter, she is an editor, a magazine editor from Story Weekly that I have never heard of, a beautiful female editor." Julie, who only used a few short sentences to describe a simple thing, shook her head. Shaking his head, there was an inexplicable chuckle on his face, "I don't know what these people are thinking, I'm just a maid."
Amanda raised her eyebrows and smiled, "Aren't we all? Haha. Sometimes I don't know what Mrs. Quinn is thinking. By the way, did Bishop Manor receive a belated condolence gift from Mrs. Quinn? ? A bundle of soul-attracting grass? Hey, I really don’t know what use those things have.”
"Haha, we received it, the person in charge of the funeral, the person in charge of the Grand Funeral Home." Julie smiled, seeming to think of something interesting, "It seems to be called Louise, said, now Barton can't even find these things. He didn't expect that Mrs. Quinn, who loves Indian culture, still has them. It would be nice if she received them earlier. But since it is a private funeral, these unnecessary traditions are not necessary."
"Lou, Louise." The topic is going to go off the rails here. Obviously, everyone knows the reason, "I remember, the owner of the Grande Funeral Home..." Look, Amanda is still trying to express it tactfully, "Isn't it Zach and Mr. Benjamin Grande? Oh, we had dealings with Mr. Quinn before at his funeral."
"Yes." Julie nodded, "But I heard from the person in charge named Louise that the two Mr. Grande are very busy now, well, it seems that Zach is busy in their cremation branch..." Julie glanced at Amanda, "About Herman's compensation, it's in the newspaper." Without further explanation, "The other Benjamin, it seems I haven't seen it..."
"Well..." The little policewoman on Julie's shoulder opened her eyes in confusion, "Ben, what's wrong with Benjamin?" But she immediately discovered that she was sleeping on the stranger's shoulder. She sat up in a panic and looked at Julie. Sorry, "Yes, sorry, I fell asleep..."
Amanda rolled her eyes and complained in a bad tone, "Leave her alone, Julie. She's not from our 'side'!"
"Amanda!" Emma glared angrily, "If you keep doing this, I won't accompany you anymore!"
"Okay, okay!" Amanda brushed Emma's somewhat disheveled hair, "I'll stop teasing you and help me introduce the new friends I just met when the time comes. You have to thank them." Amanda smiled at Zhu Leigh pointed, "This is Julie from Bishop Manor."
Emma turned to look at Julie, seemingly still immersed in apologizing for accidentally falling asleep on someone else's shoulder, "Ah, Julie, I'm sorry..."
Amanda continued to smile at Julie, acting as an introduction, "Her name is Emma. Her father is the housekeeper of Barton Manor and one of the directors of our union."
The bright sunshine fell on Julie through the car window. Look, everything is getting better. More than a week ago, she was a single mother who was forced to move from the North District to the unfamiliar West Side with no job and no connections. Now... (..)