2 peas in a pod (George karim x OC~Alice Silver)

4. The red room

The sun's rays land gently on my face, the birds tweet and the paths are littered with dog walkers. My door bursts open with a slam. Next thing I know George is chucking a plastic wrapped pain au chocolat at my head and yelling at me "YOU NEED TO GET UP AND GET DRESSED FOR THE TRAIN". I groan and chuck my duvet on top of my head. George yanks my duvet off the bed and chucks it on the floor. "Cute pyjamas" he teases, my eyes look down at my pink polka dot onsie. I rub my eyes and look at my alarm clock "the train is in three hours, George" He puts his hands on his hips and scoffs "I know but we need to be ready"He says in a low Whisper. "This case is going to be fine. We'll be done before you can say Ghost" I smile groggily at him. He leaves with a defeated sigh and I eat my pain au chocolat while getting ready for today.

We stumble off the train, bags flung across our shoulders. We walk across the metal crossing bridge and George looks like he's just seen nature for the first time. "wow. There's a lot of green" I laugh quietly. "Never been outside of London before, George?" Lockwood asks with a slight grin.
"I visit my Gran in Sidcup"
"Sidcup is in London" Me and Lucy are laughing together.
"well then, you have your answer." He looks around "doesn't look like I've missed much".
"Just wait till the summer. The heatwaves are terrible but the rivers make it all worth it" I smile, remembering my summers spent in the nearby river

"I can't believe we're going to Sir John Fairfax's house" Lockwood says with a giddy skip. "you've got a real hard-on for him. Haven't you?" Lucy says with a slight laugh at her boyfriend. George is adjusting his bag every two seconds and Lockwood is holding his coat as well as Lucy's. I nudge her "might loose your boyfriend to Fairfax soon enough" Laughing always makes my fears go away. I can't lie that I'm scared for this case.

"well if you want to put it like that. He's succeeded in everything he's tried. Publishing, show business." I groan , this is like one of the history lessons I had at school. "He didn't even start smelting until he was in his thirties. Now look at him". Although I hate Fairfax I must admit his achievements are cool. I pretend to snore "boring"

"He came from nothing too"

"Nah , he's old money . And you have a massive house in Central London" George says finally figuring out how to hold the bags comfortably

" well its mortgaged to the hilt, George. I'm practically a serf" Lockwood says
' I am so confused ' I think to myself , how did he get his house ?

We walk through the station and out the small green door, A woman is waiting for us. "Welcome" She says "I'm Ellie, Mr. Fairfax's assistant. This way, please" Ellie is a moderately thin girl around our age wearing a blue, button up shirt and a thick coat with a plant broach. Her hair is short and curly and she adorns her ears with silver hoop earrings.

Lockwood starts to speak as we get closer to the car "Is sir John--" He gets cut off by Ellie

"he's waiting at the hall"

We fling our bags into the boot, Ellie obviously notices that George is struggling and takes his bag off his shoulder. She goes to chuck his bag into the boot and groans as she does so. "you okay?" Lucy asks, we all put our rapiers with our bags and Ellie closes the boot with a slam. "old war wound" Ellie replies.

Ellie explains that Fairfax likes to employ old agents who's talents have faded. "Won't say he's kind, but he understands when people need a second chance" She smiles weakly "And he pays well". I smile at her sympathetically, she's right, Fairfax is not the nicest. Never has been, never will be. "Hop in"

"must we ride in this old wreck" George says with a teasing grin.

In the front two seats of the red car are Ellie, who is driving, and Lockwood, his arm resting on the open window. Me, Lucy and George sit in the back. I sit squished in the middle of both of them, luckily that doesn't affect the beauty of the drive. The fields are filled with flowers and crops, just like I remember.