Chapter 1 – Fletcher

The early morning sun came streaming through the window, resting across my eyes and stirring me from sleep; I groaned and rolled over, reaching for my watch on the bedside cabinet. 7:47am. I was not impressed at all at being awake so early. I groaned again before sitting up, rubbing my eyes and ruffling my hair. Thank god Val can't see my hair like this, I thought to myself a smile playing across my lips. I picked up my mobile and flicked it open, smiling at the picture of me and Val that I'd taken last week when I'd randomly taken her to Sydney.

I put the phone back on the bedside cabinet and stood up, stretching as I walked to the shower room. This hotel room is pretty nice even for my standards; Val would probably like it here. I'd chosen a 5-star hotel in Italy to stay in for a few days, the room had a black, leather framed king-size bed placed in the middle with a mahogany bedside table either side. To the left side of the bed, next to the door that led to the shower room and hotel room door was a huge built in wardrobe, with a black glass sliding door. There was also a two seater black leather loveseat at the end of the bed, placed in-front of a 42" flat-screen TV.

So far Italy was really living up to my expectations, the weather was beautiful and warm, not like the cold and rain of Ireland, I do miss Val though. She'd said she couldn't come with me when I'd asked her about it, her and Skulduggery were working on cracking a big case and she didn't think it was right for her to swan off for a few days and leave Skulduggery to do all the work. I'd said ok and acted like I was fine with it but secretly I'd been pissed, she was my girlfriend after all, I wanted to spend time with her and all she did was spend time with Skulduggery.

I looked at myself in the mirror and frowned, annoyed at myself for being angry at Valkyrie, it wasn't her fault after all, she was working. I shook myself and had a shower, letting the hot water wash my anger away.

After the shower and fixing my hair, I thought I'd venture out into Italy to buy Val a present, what would she like, hmm? I racked my brains trying to think of something that she'd like and not think of as stupid. I checked myself in the full length mirror that hung on the back of my door before I left, I straightened my red check shirt and made sure that my jeans hung properly over my black trainers before checking my hair, styled in a casual disarray, I admit to myself, I looked good.

I strolled through the Italian streets, browsing market stalls containing trinkets and clothes and thinking to myself whether Val would like this or that. After a few hours I came to the conclusion that she wouldn't like any of it so decided that when I went back I'd take her an ice-cream. After coming to this conclusion I realised I was hungry so I found a small cafe with blue checked table clothes draped over the small round tables and white chairs clustered around each one. A waitress approached me and smiled, looking me up and down approvingly, I smiled back and sat down at the nearest empty table. She was pretty, long dark hair tied back in a pony tail, olive skin and big dark eyes, she had a good figure too, curves in all the right places, with shapely legs accentuated by the black heels that she wore. She stood in front of me, still giving me the eye as she pulled out a notebook and a fluffy pink pen, ready to take my order.

I shook my head, your with Val, you love Val, I told myself. I grabbed the menu from the centre of the table and stared at it uselessly, I couldn't speak Italian. There was a picture of a sandwich on the side of the menu and I held it up and pointed at it, she seemed to understand as she started scribbling on her notebook.

"Drink?" she asked in a heavy Italian accent, I shook my head and she walked off, I couldn't help but watch her retreating figure, she shook her bum as she walked and the sight was almost hypnotising. I shook myself again, physically and mentally, thinking of Val and concentrating hard on ignoring the many stares that I was getting from other women as they walked by.

I took out my mobile and flicked it open, taking another look at the picture of me and Val, I sighed, closing the phone and putting it on the table. I looked around some more, taking in the couples who were leaning close across the tables towards each other; some held hands and others were looking deep into each other's eyes. I jumped as my phone began to vibrate across the table, I looked at the small outer screen to see the caller I'd, it was Val. I picked it up and flicked it open.

"Heya Val, what's up?"

"Fletch where have you been? I haven't seen your hair in ages," she sounded half annoyed and half amused.

"I'm in Italy, remember?"

"Oh yeah, sorry, well anyway we need you here, you know as a back-up getaway plan."

"Yeah, OK I'll be there in a jiffy, see you soon."

"Yep see you soon." I snapped the phone shut and sighed yet again as I stood up and walked away, I was still hungry but there was no time for my sandwich now. I found a quiet alley way and teleported to Bespoke Tailors.