My Beloved, Whom I Desire to Kill - 231

If I had been on duty originally, I would have taken it in stride since it was part of the plan. But with my household chores waiting for me, being forcibly stuck in the office and «forced» to relax made the card game less enjoyable than usual.

—Rummy.

—Ah, damn it.

Giselle snatched a card another officer had carelessly discarded and added it to a run already on the table. She wasn’t having fun, but she was dutifully following her ingrained competitive spirit. Just then, the sound of shoes on the stairs echoed from the end of the hall.

That’s the intelligence department’s private staircase. A new duty officer from another unit must have arrived. She considered ignoring it and rearranging the cards in her hand, since it couldn’t be the person who had come to rescue her, but then…

Drrrk. Bang.

The other duty officers knocked their chairs over as they jumped to their feet and saluted the stairs. Only then did Giselle turn her head. The moment she made eye contact with the Director, the thoughts that had been racing through her mind suddenly came to a halt.

‘Why are you here already?’

She had told him that she’d probably get off work around 7 p.m., so she assumed he would pick her up then. But it wasn’t even 6 o’clock yet, their original appointment time.

—You’re working hard on the weekend.

When the Director approached and returned the salute, the officers lowered their hands and quickly swept the cards in front of them into the center of the table. The Director chuckled at their flustered attempts to erase the evidence after being caught playing games on duty, then…

—Let me in on the next round.

He pulled up a chair and sat at the table. The game only allowed for seven players. With the Director joining, there were now eight, so they decided to form four teams of two. The Director naturally pulled his chair next to Giselle’s.

—Wouldn’t this be better here?

—Yes.

They began to arrange their hands together, but the Director wrapped his hand around Giselle’s, which was holding the deck. Thinking he couldn’t see well, she tilted the cards toward him, but he didn’t let go of her hand.

—Where should we put this?

—Over here? And you can put this down, too.

Throughout the game, they whispered to each other so the other teams couldn’t hear, leaning their heads together frequently. The Director even draped his arm over the back of Giselle’s chair, keeping their bodies quite close.

‘Has this man always been this warm?’

He felt hot, like a stove. The Director seemed to be feeling warm as well. He took off his jacket and hung it on the back of his chair. As if that wasn’t enough, he unfastened his cufflinks and rolled up his sleeves.

When his left sleeve was rolled up above his elbow, Giselle’s eyes widened. The four-leaf clover tattoo, which had been so blurry she couldn’t even make out its shape just a few days ago, was now vividly etched on the inside of his left forearm. A clover signifies good luck, so it made sense to get it redone.

What shocked Giselle was her name, proudly tattooed right next to it.

—What are you doing? It’s your turn.

The other officers were also just staring blankly at his forearm, forgetting what they were doing. When the Director moved his arm behind Giselle’s back again, everyone’s suspicious gazes shifted to her face.

Don’t ask me. I’m just as confused as you are.

There was no one in that room with enough guts to ask the Director himself. While everyone but him held their uncomfortable questions, the card game resumed as if nothing had happened, but it didn’t last long.

Trrrrrring.

—Which one is it?

—It’s Room 303.

She couldn’t concentrate anyway, so she was glad to have an excuse to get up from the table. However, the person on the other end of the line was not welcome at all.

—Yes, hello, Ms. Martin.

Ms. Martin was the daughter of a foreign diplomat who had been forcibly recruited to Constanza and now worked as a spy in Mercia. She was notorious in Room 303 for her unreasonable demands and frequent tantrums, using her status to justify the «hard work» she did for Mercia. Giselle Bishop’s difficult and hysterical personality in the Weasel Operation was modeled after this woman.

From what she gathered, Ms. Martin hadn’t received something a responsible agent had promised her the previous week. It wasn’t an emergency, but she was calling on an emergency line on a Sunday just to complain.

Because Giselle was on vacation, she had no idea what the promised item was, or even if another agent had ever promised such a thing. It wasn’t a problem she could solve on the spot, so she told her that she would have the person in charge look into it as soon as they came to work on Monday. But the woman stubbornly insisted it had to be solved immediately. Listening to her, Giselle got the sense that resolving the issue wasn’t the point.

‘Does she want me to bow down like a servant and wait on her? Why should I?’

But Giselle was a soldier, and soldiers have a duty. She swallowed her temper and began to soothe the woman.

—Ms. Martin, I understand you’re having a hard time. Yes, yes, of course. No, that’s not it. Please calm down for a moment…

At the words «calm down,» the woman became even more agitated and shrieked. It felt like her eardrums were going to burst. She winced, pulling the receiver away from her ear for a moment. As she was about to put it back, a hand appeared from behind and took it away from her.

—Ms. Martin, I am the chief in charge here.

As soon as the Director took the call, the woman’s voice coming from the receiver noticeably softened. In fact, as the call went on, her voice became sweet, and Giselle could even hear her giggle.

‘Right, he’s handsome just by his voice alone.’

She pouted in annoyance, but the Director’s lips curved upward. This was the first time she had ever seen someone smile while on the phone with that unpleasant hag. ‘Does he have to be that mentally strong to be the head of the intelligence department?’

The Director put his arm around Giselle’s shoulder and gave her a reassuring pat. Then, he motioned toward another phone, covered the microphone with his hand, and whispered, «Connect to Hawkins.»

When Hawkins answered the call, the Director told him to handle it and sent Giselle back to play cards. However, no one looked like they wanted to continue the game.

—But why did the Director come here?

There’s no better entertainment than gossiping about your absent superior.

—He’s so dressed up I thought he came here because an emergency broke out during his date…

He certainly looked like he was dressed for a date. The man who shined even in a plain and boring military uniform was even more dazzling in a suit with sophisticated colors and lines. His hair was slicked back with pomade, just like always, but the style was much more free and stylish. His whole look was completely different.

‘Did he have an appointment earlier today?’

He had looked no different from his usual self yesterday, so he probably hadn’t just come from a party.

‘Wait… what if… it really was a date?’

A sudden thought sent a chill down her spine.

‘He wouldn’t have tried to set me up with another woman when he’s already seeing someone, would he?’

If that were the case, why would he want to go to the movies with Giselle and not her?

Could it be that the story he «had to tell today» was a confession that he had a girlfriend?

This was so Edwin Eccleston. He feels guilty for breaking his previous plan—a plan he made on his own accord—so he decides to express his affection by spending time with her, to show that she’s a precious person to him, and then tell her he’s found a woman he loves. He really didn’t have to go through all that.

—He’s casually playing cards with us, so it doesn’t seem like an emergency…

—Did you tell him that the lieutenant was taking the shift for someone else?

—Huh?

Lost in her thoughts, Giselle had no idea what her colleagues were talking about.

—I mean, he heard that Lieutenant Bishop was alone in Room 303, so he gave up his date and came to pick you up instead, didn’t he?

The Director’s over-protectiveness of Lieutenant Giselle Bishop was already notorious within the intelligence department. So, the rumor was widespread that he absolutely hated it when Giselle was left alone, or with just a few men, on late nights or duty shifts, and would come to stay with her himself.

—I was wondering why he hadn’t shown up today.

—The Director is too much. The lieutenant is a perfectly capable adult, not a child.

The officer next to him nudged his colleague with his elbow.

—He’s worried because you’re not a child.

He winked meaningfully. At that moment, the other officer’s eyes and mouth widened as if he had realized something.

—Ah… then, no way…

And he looked straight at Giselle.

—No way what?

Giselle seemed to be the only one who didn’t get what that «no way» meant.

—He didn’t give up his date and come here, he’s on his way to his date right now, isn’t he?

—What?

—With the lieutenant.

—The Director and I aren’t like that.