Page 3 of Cherished By the Sinners
“Of course,” the man said.He extended an open hand toward the door.
“Thank you,” Darlene said with another quick bow.
She pushed her cart into the room.
It was a large suite, so she was standing in a living room with a couple of couches, chairs, and one loveseat.There was a large TV mounted on the far wall between the doorways to two of the bedrooms.Two more bedrooms faced them from the other side of the room.Each pair of bedrooms shared a bathroom.There was also a small kitchen area immediately to the left of the door to the suite.
She left her cart with a pocket full of garbage bags, and went around to pull and replace each garbage bag in the suite, all six of them.The male followed four paces behind her the entire time.The other eight people in the room watched her silently from their seats on the furniture.
She could see why other people found their silence and attention strange, but she liked the quiet.No one was calling her names, yelling at her, or swearing at her.Their attention was curious in nature.Their heads were tilted slightly to one side or the other, as if she were doing something interesting and mysterious.
She’d been confused so often in her life, she knew just how they felt, trying to adjust to another culture whose behavior and expectations were so different from your own.
She relaxed more and more as she finished with the garbage and moved on to cleaning the bathrooms.
She didn’t even notice that she’d begun humming under her breath and bopping her head in time with the song until the man following her said, “You are...singing and dancing?”
She stopped wiping out the sink to look at him.“Yes.I’m sorry if I offended you.I’ll stop.”She gave him a small bow.
“Oh,” he said, also bowing.“No offense taken.Your voice is...good.I was surprised.”
“Surprised?”
“Yes,” he glanced over his shoulder at the rest of the suite, probably checking with one of the other guests.“The other cleaning people were...uncomfortable.You are...”He glanced away, mentally searching for the right words, “Light, your spirit is light and happy.”
“I am happy,” she said, then caught her breath, because she washappy.For the first time since she ran away from her horrible family, she was truly happy.
He studied her for a few more moments.“You are not...afraid?”
She snorted, then covered her face with her hands as heat crept up her cheeks.“I’m sorry, it’s just that...”How was she going to explain this?“Your curiosity is understandable.I’m a stranger in your space, your safe place.Your interest in what I’m doing is natural.”
The man considered that for a few seconds.Then he stepped closer to her.Only one step, but she could tell he was doing it to see how she would respond.His face was alight with inquisitiveness and nothing else.
“Now?”he asked.
He wanted to know how she responded if she perceived a threat.
She almost laughed, but managed to keep it to a smile.This was the most polite threat she’d ever encountered.“There is another reason why I’m not afraid.”
His eyes widened slightly and he almost seemed to quiver in anticipation.“What is it?”
“I work for the Breznik family,” she said, surprised at the level of pride she heard in her own voice.“They do not tolerate...harm to their people.If a guest hurt me, they would be punished.”
She didn’t know how, but she knew it right down to the marrow of her bones that it was true.
“Ah.”The man smiled and nodded.“And so you are safe.”
“Yes.”
Someone in the living area said something in rapid Japanese.Darlene only understood one word.Samurai.
“Samurai?”she asked.
It was the man’s turn to blush.“My companion thinks that the Breznik family has a responsibility to their people and their people to them.Like in the time of the Samurai.It is an honorable relationship.”
She thought about that for a second, reviewing the interactions she’d had and witnessed between hotel employees and the Brezniks.There was respect there on all sides.
“Yes,” she said.
