The True Story of Emily Lockwood / g. karim

𝟙. 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨𝕤

--Their third member manifested itself as a boy named George, with constantly-tousled dark hair and comical spectacles. The moment he walked in, Anthony smiled.

"Ah, you must be Mr. Karim." he extended a hand "you can call me Lockwood." The boy shook it, radiating nervous energy as he entered their home.

"Hi," he mumbled, reaching in his overcoat pocket to grab his papers, presumably of former employment, grades, all that lovely stuff.

"My name is Emily," the girl said, stepping forward to shake his hand as well. The boy cleared his throat, and she noticed he was smiling at her. "we're the Lockwood, and we're hoping you'll be our 'Co.'"

When she grasped his hand in hers, she could feel more than just his awkwardness. It was like fresh-baked bread, sunshine pouring in through a window.

Positively wonderful, and disgusting - all at the same time. Perfect.

He chuckled nervously, glancing between the two of them.

"Let's sit, yeah?" her brother asked the boy, and Emily was grateful to have already prepared a fresh pot of tea for this occasion. Emily had chosen her outfit according to this day, whereas her brother wore that same suit he'd been sporting since they became their own agency.

He'd really taken this to heart, and she admired him for it. Meanwhile, the girl wore a plaid skirt, complete with a sweater the same color of the Autumn leaves outside. If there was anything Emily loved, more than Anthony, it was dressing an accordance to the seasons.

"So," Anthony said, moving to sit on his designated armchair. "your application says you worked for Fittes." George nods enthusiastically.

"I did, but," he hesitates for a minute "it didn't work out," Emily tossed a glance to her brother.
"Why's that?" she inquired, not unkindly.

Some would say her and Anthony were two sides of the same coin: Lockwoods at heart but different people otherwise.

"There, I was just someone random. Not important," he sighed "i want to be important." Anthony, or rather, Lockwood, smiled.

"Let's see what you've got, then," And then they got the real portion of the interview: having George test his abilities on random objects to see if he would be the right fit.

With flying colors, he passed.

"Anything else we ought to know?" Lockwood asked, and Emily turned to face George, expectantly.

"I do love research," he said, a little sheepishly with a glance at Emily. "and books, everything of the sort. That's what I did back at my other job." This piqued the girl's interest.

"Ah, lovely! I'm also quite fond of reading, as you can probably tell," she gestured to the precarious stacks of books around the parlor, courtesy of countless hours spent in here after curfew.

"Well, George," Lockwood clapped his hands and stood. "we'll be in touch, mate," With a smile and a farewell, their interviewee left their home.

--Immediately, Emily spun around on her heel to face her brother. He leaned against the wall, wearing a smug smile.

"What?" the girl asked, brushing past him to walk into the kitchen.

"Nothing," her brother chuckled "you just seemed to like him, that's all." Emily scoffed.

"It's just, nice to imagine someone else here," she swallowed "instead of just you and I all the time." She could feel the sadness radiating off of him.