Alfendi sat quietly, reading at his desk waiting for his apprentice, Lucy Baker. She had been running late as always and he was becoming rather agitated at her tardiness. A sudden bang and a yelp was muffled by the thick wooden door, it lifted his thoughts from the case he was working on but as curious as he was, he didn't bother to lift himself from the warmth of his chair. He was already 96.4% sure of what or who had made that noise. A few seconds had passed before the door swung open and there stood Lucy in her usual green jacket, trousers and salmon pink cap.

"Just as I suspected" he muttered under his breath before looking back down at the papers in front of himself.

She watched a mirror on the wall as she fixed her messy hair.

"'Ello Prof!"

Alfendi raised the file so Lucy couldn't see the blood rushing to his cheeks, she had almost caught him staring.

'God she looks cute like that' he thought. Potty Prof cut off his thoughts.

'I can hear you, you know! And the killer was obviously that singer Rosella Stone.'

'It couldn't be she has a pretty strong alibi, we can't jump to conclusions.'

As he slowly began to peak over the top of his papers, he saw Lucy, her hands on her hips and an amused look on her face.

"Well ya can't expect me t' be able t' 'elp ya wit' the case if yer holdin' it all t' way up yer nose huh Prof?" she said matter-of-factly.

He reached into his large over-sized pockets for a newspaper and handed it to Lucy.

"First page. It's today's case"

"What yer not gonna let me just read t' case?"

"It seems as though the media and the police have different ideas on the matter. Someone is trying to cover their tracks. Paying off the media is going to make our job a lot harder than it is already." He sighed.

"… Not even 'n 'ello t'day Prof?" she put the newspaper down and crossed her arms.

He paid no attention to her and kept pretending to read. Lucy leaned over his desk and peered over the case file.

"Good morning Lucy" he said sarcastically.

She stared at him with daggers and unknowingly Alfendi blushed, Lucy laughed.

"Well there's no need to be rude."

Lucy gasped "Me? Rude? Never!" she smiled.

Alfendi shook his head, laughing with his face in his hands. Lucy was fascinated by the locks of hair falling out of his messy ponytail. When he looked up Lucy reached out to touch the side of his face and ran her hand through his hair, just to know how it felt. He hadn't tried to move away.

His hair was soft, as her fingers ran through the dark reddish-brown mess. Alfendi put his hand over hers and gently took her fingers away. He gestured for her to sit down, she looked defeated as she took the paper and began reading silently.

'What was that? What… just happened?' Potty prof had thought. His other side did not reply.

The rest of the day went by quickly. The two stole glances at each other and asked questions about the case they were working on but there had been a gap between them since that morning's incidents.

The second day had been just as awkward as the first. Their breaks were spent alone, not even conversing with their other colleagues. Florence had sensed the tension between the two and decided to talk to Lucy privately.

"Has something happened between you two? Has he hurt you, tell me if he has alright?"

"No, no Flo it's nothin' like 'at. It's just, well… I got a bit too close and now, I think 'e 'ates me."

"Hates you? No! He can't stop t-" *A-achoo*

"Hello Florence, hi Lucy. You two slacking on your jobs again I see." Blaine sighed and smiled at Lucy.

"Hello Blaine. How are you today?" Lucy said cheerfully, smiling back at him.

Blaine blushed, hiding his face he noticed Alfendi walking towards them with his eyes on something, totally oblivious of who he was about to walk into. He cleared his throat to inform him of their presence.

"Huh? Oh, Hi Flo… Lucy" Alfendi had walked into the corridor where they had been and stopped, he looked to the ground and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, ignoring Blaine. His other hand had been holding onto a box wrapped in pink wrapping paper. He quickly attempted to hide the box.

Blaine, in an attempt to make Alfendi jealous he pushed Lucy against a wall and kissed her. She was lost in a daze.

She came out of her shock and saw Alfendi slip past them. Lucy had a pained look on her face.

"What was 'at for?!... Wait Alfendi!" she yelled.

"Lucy? Are you alright?" Florence sniffled and shot daggers at Blaine who was chucking to himself.

"Don't worry 'bout me. I'll be 'right." She said worried. "I gotta get back. See ya later Flo." She turned without waving taking her time to walk back to the Mystery Room. Flo watched her as she turned her wheelchair to roll back to the lunch room making sure Blaine wasn't following Lucy.

As Lucy reached the door she paused. She was reaching out her fingers lightly brushing the door handle. She had stopped to recollect her thoughts. A few minutes passed and just as she decided she was ready the door swung open. Lucy gasped.