Lockwood & Co - ONE SHOTS

(3)

-Pulled From The Ocean Part 2 -
-The Trouble With Being Famous Is-
POV - Lockwood finds out he's finally made front page
but on one of his trashy magazines. The new find fame
comes with both pros and cons.
WARNINGS: Some Badassery and Sickening cuteness

Part 1 - The Article

Lockwood walked into Arif's corner shop, hearing the tiny bell ring as he did. Once the door heavy licked shut behind him, he looked over to the counter and saw Arif sitting there.
"Alright?" He said to Lockwood, sitting down on a blue plastic seat opening up a mars bar.
"Morning" Lockwood nodded in reply, with one of his polite smiles. Walked directly down the first short aisle, he headed straight for the small baker section where the infamous doughnuts sat.
"No George today?" Arif called to him, reaching over and picking up his tea cup he had hidden.
"Getting I lie in, long night" Lockwood replied, getting one of the brown baggies and putting a random selection inside it. "He'll be back tomorrow no doubt"
"Boy eats you out of house and home" Arif shook his head then took a loud slurp of tea. Lockwood smiled at that, George Karim was a notable foodie but certainly made up for it in more ways that one.
"He is one of a kind" Lockwood breathed out, closing over the bag and then walking the long way around back to the counter. "Anything new in?" He motioned to the magazine stand as he dug into his pocket for his wallet.
"You could say that" Arif mused, as if he'd been waiting for this moment since Anthony Lockwood walked into the shop. Lockwood raised an eyebrow, as he plucked a fiver out of his wallet.
"Save me the suspense" He muttered, putting down the fiver and sliding it over.
"These just came in this morning, I was waiting till one of you lot came in and you could see if for your self" He turned in the chair and lifted a heavy cardboard box that was open on to his lap. Arif plucked a copy out and tossed it on the countered in front of Lockwood. It slid from its shiny cover and stopped at a slight angle, the shop keep watched as his eye friend's eyes widen and soon a wolffish smile began to crawl into shape.
"You're kidding" Lockwood picked it up and raised it to his face, dark eyes taking in every inch of the front page.
"You mind signing me a copy?" Arif smirked, taking the fiver and putting into the cash register. Lockwood met his eyes with a wicked grin.
"No time today, I'm sure there's a young lady I know that would like to see this" Lockwood took the magazine and doughnuts and went right out the door. Arif watched him go, shaking his head as he stalked by the window back up the street.
"Wait till he see's page three, wont be smiling then" He took another loud slurp of tea, taking out one of the copies of 'Teen Spirits' and sat down.

-
Lucy flushed a deep red as Lockwood poured them a cup of tea. George walked into the kitchen, scratching his face.
"What's wrong with you?" He yawned, taking a seat opposite of her.
"Just the most humiliating thing in human history has happened" She all but squeaked. "Look" She raised the front cover to him. George's brown eyes widened with amusement, a hundred different sarcastic comments filtering in his mind as his hand took it from her.
"Anthony Lockwood and Lucy Carlyle - our new Marisa Fittes and Tom Rotwell?" He read out loud, with a news anchor voice. "Co-Workers or Lovers? Or perhaps both? Scarlet Dione finds out, page three" He started laughing as Lockwood put down the mugs of tea on the table. "Let's go to page three shall we?"
"Let's leave that for later" Lockwood attempted seeing Lucy put her face in her hands.
"Oh no I think right now is good" He flicked it open seeing more pictures of them. "Look Luce, here's you dancing and a lovely solo shot of you Locky chatting with Penelope Fittes. And a very scandalous picture of you two sharing a glass of champagne. Let's see, ah yes. Lockwood & Co consisting of four members, has caught the eye of many people. It is clear to see that two of those members have a strong and particular connection."
"What are they even-" Lucy began but George raised a finger and hushed her.
"A connection" He was grinning now, looking at moment he would burst out laughing. "That borders on a sensual nature-"
"Okay" Lockwood plucked it out of his hands. "That's enough"
"I thought you loved these trashy magazines" George squinted his eyes, picking up his mug of tea. "Honestly \I wouldn't be too worried Luce, that Scarlet Dione sounds like a nice women I'm sure she never went into too much detail about you and Lockwood's relationship" He was laughing now, plucking out a doughnut from the bag.
"This is the worst day of my life" Lucy groaned into her hands, feeling her hot face burn against her fingers.
"I didn't think it was that bad" Lockwood said, getting quieter as the sentence ended. She shot a look at him, "I'm serious, I've seen what they write about some people and presuming a relationship between colleagues is nothing"
"Well let's see if thats how you'll feel when Kipps and his stupid crew get a hold of this" She pointed, finger poking into the shiny cover of the magazine on the table.
"I won't mind it at all, if Kipps photograph was taken it probably break the camera. Least we're seen as worthy enough news." He replied smoothly. "My point is, the big shots pay attention to these rags because they this is what people are actually interested in. Think about Annabelle, she was all over these and it made her even more known and respected in her society. Because she caught people's eye and deserved it."
"Then got murdered by her psychotic boyfriend" George added "Oh I can totally see where your going with this"
"Look, important people keep up to date with these things. That's why I do it because anyone who's anyone ends up in here" Lockwood picks up the magazine, it making a wobbly noise as he did. "Fittes and Rotwell lived in these and it's a good, though awkward but good thing that we are too. Lockwood & Co deserve more than a side column on the tenth page of the times. This gets us jobs, this gets us seen, this leads to us getting the respect we deserve"
Lucy was blank, although she could see his point it still didn't help feel like a open wound being exposed to ocean water.
"Exactly and anyway neither you two have anything to worry about" George picked up tea in one hand and doughnut in the other; standing up from the table "Not like there's any truth to it" He bit into his doughnut, spreading powder sugar over his face and left the room. Lockwood and Lucy were left, a weight hanging in the air like a thick cloud choking up scenery. They were seated next to each other and Lucy had realised then that their forearms were touching, barely, but she could still feel the fabric of his shirt against her cold skin.
"Have you- have you read all of it?" Lucy swallowed, eyes flickering only short enough to see the boy hide behind his mug of tea.
"No, not yet" He shook his head. "I can bin it if you-"
"No it's alright, I mean wouldn't want to affect your collection" Lucy interrupted, pushing her half eaten doughnut away on it's plate.
"Right, right" He rolled his lips inward, feeling his brain make a high pitch whine. "Would you like to read it first?"
"Uh, no i think I'm alright" Lucy breathed, watching her hands reach for her mug. "You go ahead" She just noticed that her nail polish was chipping and would need redone soon.
"I don't think we have any jobs for today, so feel free to relax and do as you like " He cleared his throat, leaning back in his seat and their arms were no longer touching and Lucy felt the cold properly then.
"Someone did call, just after you left. They booked an appointment to come and see us at four this afternoon, hope thats alright" She took a breath and met eyes with him finally.
"Yeah, yes thats perfectly fine" He smiled.
"Okay" Unable to bare it anymore, Lucy stood up from her seat.
"Luce" He turned to face her, hand softly taking a hold of her wrist. "Do you honestly think it, so awful" His eyes flickered to the rag on the table then back at her. "This idea they have of us"
She was lost for words for a moment.
"I-erm," She tried to focus on stringing a sentence but the feeling of his warm hand distracted her. She flashed back to the dance floor where the pictures were taken from. His hand on her waist, interlaced with her fingers, spinning her and pulling her close. The pants of dancing to long without something to drink and the beaming smiles on both of their faces. It was one of the best nights she'd had since coming to London and it was surprising even saying that, considering it was a black tie affair. She loved her nights in, either spending it relaxing in Portland Row or scoping out mansions with her boys. London had not welcomed her with open arms but the white brick house and its occupants had. However her feelings hadn't changed about one things, she did not like her name on other people's lips, bad or good. It was all still talk and talk like ghosts, haunted the living.
"I just wish it wasn't spread all over, Lockwood. You know how I feel about my privacy" She answered, tilting her head to look at him as strong as she could. Her voice had came out softer than expected, whispery almost. Lockwood's dark eyes were currently in the process of memorising every inch of her face.
"If it was talked about in private? Would it be different" He asked, equally as quiet, equally as gentle. There he went again making her stutter for words.
"I don't know" She answered honestly. "I don't know what would happen and that would frighten me" She watched Lockwood stood from his chair, hand letting go of her wrist and lean on the table so he was hovering over her. They were close now, like they were when they danced, perhaps closer.
"Lucy Carlyle doesn't frighten easily" He replied, hands aching to leave his side and reach up to tuck the loose strand of hair away from her face.
"You frighten me easily" She replied stubbornly, jutting her chin up. He smiled, a smile he reserved for only her.
"I'm trying to do better on that score" He replied, tilting his head.
"I know you are" Lucy sighed, closing her eyes for a second and then reopened them. Her breath caught on her throat seeing how close he was. "Lockwood, we are on the front of that magazine and it says God knows what, did you ever think that maybe people presuming things like it says, will do the opposite for us. That it will affect the reputation we've built."
"What do you think people will say?" He asked curious.
"I don't know, maybe you only hired me because you fancied me" She blurted out, making him chuckle. "I'm serious"
"It wouldn't be too untoward now, would it?" He leered, "Lucy I can't control what people think but I can affect how they'll remember me. Prove them wrong, that's what I say"
"But" She began.
"Don't overthink it" He winked, "We've got clients at 4pm remember?"
"Yes" Lucy sighed. Giving into temptation, he tucked that strand of hair away. "I'm just worried that this will do more harm than good" she breathed shakily, his fingers brushing her cheekbone.
"I won't anyone harm you, I mean that" He assured her. "Have another doughnut and relax, then we'll all get things ready at three-thirty for the clients coming. It'll be okay" Lockwood smiled kindly, giving that reassurance only he could give. He watched her sigh, then square her shoulders and when she looked at him again he saw the Lucy Carlyle he knew and loved.
"That'a girl Luce," He said to her just as they heard Holly letting herself in.
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