Blackbourne Investigations 01 - Introductions

Chapter 15 - The beginnings of Luke with a dash of Silas

I approached the control room door carrying the two mugs. Kota reached over my shoulder, knocking onto the door for me. His hand landed on my shoulder, giving it a small squeeze before releasing and walking away.

The door opened and Silas turned in his chair, his phone to his ear. I carefully walked over placing the mugs on the desk. He finished the phone call quickly and set his phone down, rising to his feet. I was struck again at his sheer height and strength. I had never felt so tiny before.

'Morning Sil...' my words finished in a squeak as his arms shot and pulled me to him in another bone-crushing hug. A vague sense of comfort and security rolled over me, a familiarity with his hug. I lifted my hands behind his back. What did I do with them; did I put them to his back? Or lower, on his hips? They hovered in the air and Silas released me from his arms. Just like that, the last drops of doubt disappeared. Silas did like me, I was sure of it. I wasn't a burden here. It was a relief to no longer have to worry about being an imposition to them. I just had to make sure I didn't get too close. It would only make it harder when I disappeared.

'Good morning Aggele mou, how was your morning?'

My morning had been an absolute roller coaster of emotion. Right now, sitting beside Silas, knowing that I was wanted here at least, I felt good.

'Wonderful,' I beamed at him.

He blinked twice then returned my smile. 'I'm glad.'

I took a long sip of my tea then pulled my chair up the desk, ready to work.

I saw Silas's eyes resting on my white mug with a small smirk on his face. Had I taken someone else's mug again? Kota had gotten it out for me, so I had assumed it was okay. If they all had dedicated mugs I could bring one in or use the client mugs.

'What can I do to help today? Kota said there were some things I could help with?'

'You're already helping,' he muttered, as he opened a drawer beside him and pulled out a stack of documents.

'These are transcripts from phone calls and we need them sorted by date and time, then various sections highlighted.'

He showed me what they were looking for and I got to work, sorting them out into the different days. The dates spanned over several months. I wondered how long they had been on this particular case for and what had been involved in it. Were they allowed to listen in on people's phone calls? The gaps in my knowledge of what was legally acceptable were starting to show.

What else could they do? They seemed to be able to access so many levels of communication and had a variety of ways to track people. My mind wandered to Victor and his blank office. What exactly could he find online?

'So Sang,' Silas began, his eyes fixed on the screens.

I turned to him, he sounded so serious. What was he going to ask?

'Why couldn't the bicycle stand up by itself?'

What? 'Uhh...'

'It was two-tired,' he deadpanned.

A snort of laughter escaped me. It was the last thing I had expected him to ask me.

He looked sideways at me before returning his attention to the documents in front of him.

'Why did the scarecrow win an award?'

I could feel a smile forming on my lips without even hearing the answer.

'Because he was out-standing in his field.'

I started giggling, they were sad jokes but the way he said them made them hilarious. Silas turned and watched me giggling, causing me to press my lips together to try and stop. I couldn't stop the smile.

He reached over with a finger and poked my lips, 'That's what I like to see.'

We settled back into our work. I began to understand Silas's frustration with paperwork and the control room. Your attention had to be constantly divided as the surveillance had to be first priority. He barely got three pages sorted in the time it had taken me to do a stack.

The phone beside me began to ring. I paused wondering if this call was for me or for the control room in general. 'It's for you.' Silas said, pointing to the screen at the top showing it was a forwarded call. I gave him a quick smile of thanks and answered the phone, getting details and transferring the call to Kota. I set the phone down with a flourish. I was doing my job. It made me ridiculously happy every time I did something to help.

'You met Nate over the weekend?' Silas asked, drawing my attention.

'Yes I did, he's very nice. I've nearly met everyone now.'

Silas nodded his head slowly. 'Friend-zoned...' he murmured under his breath with a smirk.

'What? I meant he was really nice, he helped me when I fell and...' I trailed off realizing I was revealing more than I had wanted. I blushed at the memory.

His eyes sharpened and immediately zoned into the small lump on my head then on my reddening cheeks. How did they always notice everything?

The phone beside me rang again, the screen showing it was forwarded from the reception. I put down the documents and grabbed a pen, answering the phone 'Good Morning, thank you for calling Blackbourne Investigations. This is Sang. How may I help you?'

There was a pause on the other end before a male voice replied 'I'm wondering if the world's most devilishly handsome man is in at the moment?'

I sat there, slightly stunned. I have answered a lot of phones, but no one has ever responded like this. What can you say to that?

'I'm sorry, he's out at the moment. Is there someone else who could help you?'

I listened closely, wondering what they would say.

'Yes, you can. Could you give me an accurate description of yourself, starting from your toes, all the way up to your hair. Don't miss a thing.'

I turned in my seat to Silas, who had stopped what he was doing and was looking at the number displayed on the phone, bemused.

'No?' the voice continued. 'How about favourite foods? Breakfast in bed or at the table? Shower or bath? Do you have a preference for boxers or br...'

Another voice barked in the background 'Luke, get off the f*cking phone. Who are you harassing now?'

'Sorry Sugar, got to go, I'll see you later.' There was the sound of hard punch and a muttered 'Oww' before the phone beeped, signalling the call was ended.

I set the phone back in the receiver, feeling slightly in shock.

What was that about?