The Apprenticeship Letter

Lucia had worked behind the bakery counter every morning since she was fourteen. At first it was a favor to her mother; later, it simply became her life. The bell above the door and the smell of proving dough had become as familiar as breathing. So had the regulars who ordered the same thing every day.

露西娅从十四岁起，每天早晨都在面包店的柜台后面工作。起初是帮妈妈的忙，后来，这就成了她的生活。门上方的铃声和发酵面团的气味，已经像呼吸一样熟悉。每天点同样东西的老顾客，也是如此。

She had also, quietly and without telling anyone, been sending her design portfolio to studios in other cities for almost a year. Most had never replied. One, in a city six hours away, finally did.

同时，她还一直悄悄地、没有告诉任何人，把自己的设计作品集寄给其他城市的工作室，已经快一年了。大多数都没有回音。其中一家，在六个小时车程以外的城市，终于回信了。

The email arrived on an ordinary Thursday morning, while Lucia was restocking the pastry case. It offered her a paid twelve-month apprenticeship, starting in six weeks, working under a designer whose work she had admired for years. The apprenticeship had been offered to only one applicant that year, and somehow it was her.

邮件在一个普通的周四早晨到来，当时露西娅正在给糕点柜补货。对方提供了一个为期十二个月、带薪的学徒职位，六周后开始，跟随一位她仰慕多年的设计师工作。那一年，这个学徒职位只给了一位申请人，而不知怎么的，那个人就是她。

Her mother had told her, more than once, that the shop would be hers eventually, the way it had once been her own mother's. She had simply assumed Lucia agreed, the way people assume a river will keep flowing the direction it always has.

妈妈不止一次对她说过，这家店将来会是她的，就像当年它属于妈妈的妈妈一样。妈妈只是想当然地认为露西娅同意，就像人们认为河水会继续朝着它一贯的方向流下去。

If Lucia accepted the apprenticeship, her mother would have to hire someone else, and quickly. If she turned it down, she suspected an offer like this wouldn't come around again. Neither option felt simple, and she was tired of pretending that it did.

如果露西娅接受这个学徒职位，妈妈就得另外雇人，而且要快。如果她拒绝，她猜想这样的机会不会再来。哪个选择都不简单，而她已经厌倦了假装它们很简单。

That evening, she watched her mother close out the register, counting coins into neat paper rolls the way she had for twenty years. Meanwhile, the bakery kept running exactly as it always had, as if nothing had changed at all.

那天晚上，她看着妈妈核对收银机的账目，把硬币数好，卷进整齐的纸卷里，二十年来一直是这样。与此同时，面包店照常运转，一如既往，仿佛什么都没有改变。

She should have told her mother about the applications months ago, before the decision arrived all at once like this. She didn't say anything about the email that night. Instead, she went upstairs, pulled an old duffel bag down from the closet, and set it open on her bed. She didn't pack anything yet. She just sat there for a while, looking at the empty bag, letting herself imagine what it might hold.

她早该在几个月前就告诉妈妈申请的事，而不是等到决定像这样一下子全都来了。那天晚上，她没有提那封邮件。相反，她上了楼，从衣柜里拖出一个旧的帆布行李袋，敞开放在床上。她还没有往里装任何东西。她只是在那里坐了一会儿，看着空空的袋子，让自己去想象里面可能装下什么。