Summary- Colleen Docherty was a typical Irish beauty, trying to make her way as a dancer in London. Her life was pretty standard, that was, until Richard Brook showed up. Then everything was turned upside down. He appears to be like every other Irish guy she's met. But, of course, he isn't. He's hiding something. Something dark.

Authors Note- So this is my second stab at a fan fic-hoping I can do a better job this time. And I'll just clarify that although I'll be referring to him as Richard for most of the time it is, in fact, Jim Moriarty. Okay that's all I got. Enjoy. Hannah x

"Hot or Not?"

The smell of coffee mixed with chocolate hung in the air, a smell she had grown to like, although she still tended to feel a bit sick if she had a shift longer than 4 hours. A few customers wandered in and out of the door but the café was fairly quiet, as per. Colleen handed the man his skinny latte with a smile

"That's gonna be £1.75". She said as she took his change "Thank you. Have a nice day!".

The till pinged as she shut the drawer. She sighed as she looked around the nearly empty coffee shop. A few students. Two business men. A mother and her baby. And Laura, cleaning the tables. Colleen smiled at her as she headed back towards the serving counter.

"So?" Laura asked as she put away the cloth and Detol spray.

"So what?" Colleen screwed up her face in confusion.

"Hot or not?" Laura asked again, as she took a bite of a cookie.

"Not.". Colleen replied defiantly. "Although, I thought we agreed not to play this before 10!" She laughed, her thick Irish accent filling the room.

"Ah, don't be a kill joy, it's 5 to! Anyway when was that?" Laura offered her cookie as free for all.

"That was 3 weeks and 2 days ago when we got nothing but fat old business men from half 7 until 10." Kate offered as she took the cookie.

"Oh yeah." Laura winced at the memory. The three girls burst out into a fit of laughter, attracting dirty looks from the business men.

"Girls!" Kate managed, between laughs. "Back to work!"

"Yes boss!" Colleen mock saluted.

"Oi!" Kate playfully smacked her and pulled off her apron. "Right, I'm going on my break.". She continued as she smoothed her auburn hair. "And she," Kate pointed at Laura, who was practically on the floor in laughter, "better had calmed down!" She finished with a final giggle.

Colleen waved Kate out and bent down to Laura. "Come on! Its not that funny!".

"Oh but it is!" Laura managed to spit out as she started to calm down. She pulled her blonde hair behind her ears to reveal her face streaked with eyeliner.

"Oh my god!". Colleen laughed grabbing a napkin. "You look a state!"

"Cheers!" Laura gasped in mock shock, taking the napkin and wiping her face.

"Excuse me?" A soft irish voice rang over the counter. Both girls jumped up to see a young man of around thirty with jet black hair and warm brown eyes. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt with a suit jacket, which he pulled down at the sight of the girls. A flustered Laura quickly smoothed down her hair and wiped away the last streaks of black, while Colleen calmly pulled her raven hair over one shoulder, laughing inwardly at her friend. She always got like this when there was an attractive customer.

"Well hello!" Laura muttered under her breath. Colleen struggled to hold back her laughter. "Yes sir," Laura smiled kindly, "What can I get for you today?"

"Just a coffee, black with two sugars." He smiled cheekily at her.

"Oh, of course! And what's the name?" She asked, fumbling for a cup and a pen.

"Richard Brook." he winked at her. Colleen stood, arms folded, smirking Laura. She had been totally taken in by the Irish charm and was struggling to even form a coherent "It'll be 5 minutes", never mind make a coffee successfully. She watched Laura struggle with the dials for a few minutes before sighing, shaking her head and taking over.

"Jesus Laura!" She laughed "He's not that good looking!"

"Ooooh but he is!" Laura giggled like an infatuated school girl.

Colleen could do nothing but laugh at her as she stirred the coffee and put the lid on. "That'll be £1.85" She smiled as she put the coffee on the counter.

"Can I get one of those chocolate muffins too?" He asked, pointing out the one he wanted.

"Sure. Anything for a fellow Irishman, Mr. Brook." She read from the cup. "£3.15" She smiled and held out her hand. "Brook? That's not a very Irish name!" She stated matter-a-factly as he handed her a fiver.

"My mother married an English man" he sighed.

Colleen mock gasped and shook her head. "Ooh, nothing worse than a half Irish man." She joked.

"Well what about you!" He laughed.

"Colleen Docherty. I know couldn't be more Irish if I tried. And that was a very sly way of getting to know my name Mr. Brook." She smirked at him.

"Well Colleen Docherty," he leant over the counter towards her, "When do you have a break?"

She looked him up and down, taking in his cheeky grin and puppy dog eyes. She considered her options. He was confident, like most Irish men, but not overly so and there was no denying he was good looking. She looked over to Laura, who was silently urging her to say "yes". "5 minutes." She finally said.

"See ya then." He winked at her and walked away with his order.

"Oh. My. God!" Laura squealed as she ran over, squeezing Colleen's arm so tight she nearly cut off the circulation.

"Did I just get myself a date?" Colleen asked, her voice a little higher than it should have been.

"Yes!" Laura shouted, jumping up and down, causing Richard to look back at the counter. The girls quickly composed themselves and waved sweetly in perfect unison. He waved back, with a look of confusion in his face. "And he is hot, hot, hot!" Laura squealed again.

"Calm down!" Colleen laughed. "You're acting like a teenager!".

Laura squealed once more as Kate came back through the door, tying her apron around her waist. "Woah! What did I miss!" She asked. Laura just smirked at her and looked over to Colleen.

"Little Miss Ireland, over here, just got herself a date!" She beamed.