The Interview

Chapter Fifteen

Neither of the two women said much for the remainder of their journey. Larena was busy typing away on her phone, in all probability reporting the most noteworthy events of the evening to her friends or, perhaps, to her husband. Glinda inhaled sharply and turned away to watch the colourfully lit scenery of the inner city fly by.

Her stomach was in knots. She'd hoped to feel some relief now that the night was drawing to a close. Instead, she found herself plagued by fleeting, yet uncomfortable resurgences. As so often, she silently scolded herself for her overly delicate sensitivity to those faint echoes of the touches and kisses that she had endured in the name of pleasing her mother. Though she had not welcomed them, she still felt that it was important for her to remind herself that Torias had not acted in any way abnormally, or even inappropriately. In fact, he had merely enacted the plan they both had agreed on, unaware of Glinda's own reluctance and squeamishness. If only she could toughen herself against this ridiculous affliction; yes, that would be wonderful, life changing even. But unfortunately, numerous encounters of the same sort have always seemed to yield the same result. If there was any chance at all of improvement, she'd certainly have observed some small progress starting to show itself years ago.

Glinda noticed the glaringly bright green neon sign of the cinema on Peridot Square as they drove past. Her mother's hotel was just around the corner. She cast a nervous glance her way and chewed the inside of her cheek. Having already earned some praise tonight, she considered risking just a measure of audacity and making an early escape from her mother's clutches.

"Mumsie?" She began, then waited for the older woman to look up from her phone. "I know you'd prefer me to come upstairs with you, but I'm dreadfully tired. Could I just ask the cab to take me home instead?"

Larena raised her eyebrows and uttered a laugh of disbelief.

"And who will help you undress?" she asked mildly amused, most likely assuming that Glinda had not given such technicalities any thought at all.

"I'll be fine," Glinda replied firmly, rendering her mother momentarily speechless.

Taken aback, Larena frowned. To Glinda's surprise, however, she blinked a few times and simply shook her head.

"As you wish."

The cab stopped at the hotel. Larena kissed her daughter's cheek and wished her a good night before slipping a bill into her hand. Glinda waved after her, and as soon as her mother was out of sight, she gave the driver Fiyero's address.

She took out her phone.

'Still awake?' she asked in a message to her Vinkun friend, adding a number of silly emojis.

'Barely. What's up?'

The car pulled up in front of the apartment building a little later. As per Glinda's request, Fiyero was waiting for her outside. When he watched her step out of the taxi, his jaw almost dropped.

"Glin? What in Oz!"

She stood and smiled at him awkwardly.

"Can the questions wait until we're upstairs?"

He nodded slowly. His first impulse was to offer his arm, but Glinda only rolled her eyes.

"I've had enough of that sort of thing tonight, but if you could please open the door and let me inside, I'd be much obliged."

Once upstairs, Fiyero immediately placed a can of cheap beer in front of her, apologising that he did not have anything stronger or more classy, for that matter. She appreciated the thought and his impeccable intuition – offering alcohol to guests was not something he routinely did, so he obviously sensed that something wasn't quite right with her. Thanking him, she opted for a glass of cold water instead.