The Haunting of the Concert Hall {Lockwood & Co.}

--1--

       Lucy paused on her way down to the kitchen. The door to the library was left ajar and a faint light slipped out.

    Making her way quietly towards the door, she peered through the small gap.

  Sitting in an armchair, facing the fireplace as he read a newspaper, was Lockwood. He sat with his back facing her, unaware of her presence. 

      Lucy quietly pushed the door open and stepped inside. 

   "Have you had breakfast yet?" She asked softly, not wanting to startle him.

      Lockwood turned his head towards her. "Oh, good morning, Lucy," He smiled.

   "Breakfast should be ready. George will be waiting. You coming?" Lucy asked, nodding her head towards the stairs. 

     "You know I can never pass food up," Lockwood chuckled, folding away the paper and setting it down on the lamp table. 

    They made their way down to the kitchen. 

  "You two are just on time," George exclaimed, as he bustled about the kitchen, "the kettle's just boiled and the toast is ready."

    "Perfect!" Lockwood grinned, sitting down. 

  Lucy caught herself staring. His smile. It had the power to charm him into anything, and out of them for that matter. 

     "How long were you up?" Lucy inquired, buttering her toast.

  "Three hours, maybe four," Lockwood said, "Pass the jam will you George."

       "Lockwood!" Lucy gaped, "That means you barely got two hours sleep."

     "What's wrong with you?!" George stared at Lockwood with wide eyes, "we got back from the case at 5 o'clock this morning, how could you get up so early?"

    Lockwood shrugged. "I'm used to waking up early, I guess," He said. 

 Lucy secretly stole glances at him now and again. His hair was perfectly in place, his shirt and tie neat, not a wrinkle in sight, and his contagious energy overflowed out of him. 

    "Is there something on my face, Luce?" Lockwood asked, raising an eyebrow. 

   "Lucy blushed a pale shade of pink and shook her head vigorously. "No, not at all," She muttered. 

    The phone rang just then, disturbing their peace. 

  George sighed. "I'll get it," He mumbled, scraping his chair back and leaving the room. 

     Lockwood groaned. Despite the fact that he loved taking on cases, they just finished a long case this morning and he was tired. Getting another one so soon was bothersome. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Lucy watching him with worry-filled eyes. 

      "I'm fine, Luce, nothing to worry about," He smiled, trying to put her at ease. 

   "If you say so," Lucy mumbled, taking a gulp of her tea. She was not convinced that he was 'fine'.

     George reappeared a minute later. "Another case. A big one, I think," He said, sitting back down, "A Mr and Mrs Halladay are coming in two hours to talk to us. That's around lunch time, though."

      Lockwood nodded. "Okay, that means we'll have lunch after they leave," He took a sip of his tea, "Until then, I might take a quick nap."

     "Good idea!" Lucy immediately said. She didn't want to say it out loud to anyone, but he looked exhausted. 

    "Don't need to sound too enthusiastic about getting rid of me for an hour and a half, Luce," Lockwood smirked, "Anyway, wake me up thirty minutes before the new clients arrives," he added. 

    "We will," Lucy promised, clearing away his breakfast dishes. 

   A shrill noise filled the air again. 

      "I'll get it. Again! Why is it always me? I'm not the secretary!" George grumbled, placing his half-eaten toast back down on the plate. 

   "I should really disconnect that phone line during meal hours," Lockwood sighed, "I'll be in my room."

    Lucy watched as he left the room. He almost looked unwell for a second, but she brushed it off as him being tired and cranky. 

     "Another appointment," George announced, returning, "A Miss Simpson. Made an appointment for 4 o'clock."

     "Oh dear," Lucy bit her lip. 

   "Lockwood will be fine. He's always fine. He just needs some sleep," George said, "And I need to finish my food!"

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     Lucy looked up from the book she was reading. It sounds as if George was stress cleaning again. Although, why he was stressed was anyone's guess.

    "What time is it?" George suddenly popped his head through the door. 

  "Five minutes after the last time you asked," Lucy sighed, turning the next page.

       "Oh," George made a face before he disappeared again. 

    'He probably stressed about having to tell Lockwood about the fact that we have three appointments lined up for today.' Lucy thought.

     There was an alarming thump from upstairs. 

  "George? Was that you?" Lucy called. There was a pause. 

       "Lucy, I'm dusting. Dusting does not make a sound like that," George called back, "And before you ask, no, I did not knock over something."

    Lucy set her book down and went out into the hallway. 

  "Surely Lockwood isn't already up. He's got thirty more minutes to sleep," She said, looking up the stairs.

    "Maybe he never got back to sleep," George said, returning to his cleaning. 

  "I don't know, he looked really tired this morning," Lucy was dubious. 

       "He'll be fine. It's day time, it's not a ghost out to kill him," George deadpanned. 

   "Not only ghosts kill!" Lucy hissed. 

       "Yeah, well you can put your mind at rest now. He's in the shower, see, listen," George rolled his eyes as he began to polish a mirror. 

    Lucy strained her hears and true enough, she could hear water running from the bathroom. 

 'He's fine.' She thought. 

    "Lucy, stop standing there and staring at the ceiling and come help me shift this thing. I need to clean underneath it," George said.

     "For goodness sake. Stop cleaning! What is there to be stressed about?" Lucy exclaimed, exasperated. 

     "A lot of things," George deadpanned, "Lockwood being one. A second one would be the fact that Fitte's and Rotwell's has just shoved two invitation through our letterbox. Both inviting us to the same event as their special guest."

     "Oh no," Lucy looked up at the ceiling. There is only two ways Lockwood could answer this. Either an absolute 'yes we're going, let's have some fun', or he'll get even crankier and insult the Fittes Agency to kingdom come. 

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