This is my version of the clichéd 'Alex is asked to pick up a female family member of Ben Daniels a.k.a. Fox as he cannot make it'. Because there are not yet enough versions out there!

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights.

Enjoy!

The soft sound of a car parking in front of the main entrance sounded and she looked up from the papers she was working on. People rarely parked there. Teachers parked at the back of the school in a for them reserved parking place, parents parked farther away due to the small amount of space and students rarely had access to cars. And if they did they sure didn't park it in front of the school where everyone could see and vandalize their car.
So it had to be a visitor.

She turned around to watch the car and its driver on the screen playing the feed of the security camera hanging outside. She sighed in annoyance as she noticed that the driver had parked the car just out of the range of the cameras.
The soft sound of a car door closing and the electronic sound of it being locked sounded, so she turned back to the entrance to greet whoever it was.
It didn't take long before the door opened and a man entered.

The first thing she noticed that he was young, far younger than she had expected. He couldn't be older than 25, though she was sure that he was even younger than that.
The second thing she noticed was the sharp, fitting, expensive, dove grey suit, the dark leather shoes and the neutral black tie which all clashed with his somewhat wild, light brown – almost blonde – hair, too sharp brown eyes, dark tan and the earring. He was handsome but easily forgettable.
He was a walking contradiction and frighteningly familiar to her but she couldn't recall where she knew him from.

He walked towards her with smooth, almost silent steps which reminded her a bit of a predator stalking towards its prey.
"Can I help you?" she asked him politely.
"I'm here to pick up a Janine Daniels for an appointment with her therapist," he told her smoothly and she noticed the almost unnoticeable accent, one she couldn't place, "her parents asked her uncle, Ben Daniels, to pick her up as he was on leave but he was called in almost half an hour ago. He asked me to pick her up in his stead."
She searched his face in an attempt to see if he was speaking the truth but she couldn't read anything from his emotionless face, voice or eyes.

"I'm sorry but I can't just let her go with you, not after… well never mind," she finally said, "do you have permission from her parents to pick her up?"
"I've notes from both her parents and her uncle that allow me to pick her up, miss Bedfordshire," the man reassured her and he shot her a small smile that actually reached his eyes. He removed two pieces of paper out of the pocket of his expensive suit jacket and handed it to her.

She opened them. The one written by the parents stated that Janine was to be picked up by either her uncle or someone he trusted. The one written by the uncle gave permission to an Alexander Sarov to pick up a Janine Daniels.
"Do you have identification with you?" she asked as she handed him the papers back.
"Sure," he said easily and he showed her a driver's licence belonging to an A. J. Sarov.
"That seems to be alright," she said as she quickly searched for the location of the searched-after girl, "I'll bring you to her class."
"That would be appreciated," the young man said with an easy smile.

She rose from her seat and walked around the desk.
"This way, please," she gestured and she started walking.

oOoOoOo

Sharp rapping sounded on the door and the teacher stopped his lecture to shout a short, "come in!"
The door opened to admit miss Bedfordshire with just behind her an unknown, well-dressed man.
Miss Bedfordshire quickly walked towards the teacher's desk to speak to him while the unknown man leaned lightly against the doorpost. Some of the girls giggled lightly in appreciation but the class remained otherwise silent.

"Please pack your items, miss Daniels," the teacher said after miss Bedfordshire had informed him of the situation, "mister Sarov is here to take you to your therapist."
The mentioned girl shot a nervous look towards the expensively dressed, elegant man before she softly said, "yes sir."

She rose from her seat and started to pack her school items. The students around her started to whisper and curious looks drifted from her to the unknown male.
Suddenly a soft and nondescript ringtone sounded through the classroom, the kind of ringtone everyone had or knew. The students laughed slightly as the teacher started to search for his phone.

"If you would excuse me for a moment," the unknown male said softly and he took the phone from the pocket of his jacket and moved further into the hallway and away from them. He moved far enough away that they couldn't catch most of the conversation but not far enough away to seem either rude or to draw attention to himself before he answered the phone.

"Can I help you?" they managed to catch as the man spoke lightly to whoever had called him, but they could see through the window how his eyes tightened slightly.
They didn't catch whatever the man said next, except for the word 'Rider' and a couple of numbers as he moved further away from them. His strange, unknown accent had disappeared to leave an accent not dissimilar to those of the upper class of society behind and his relaxed stance changed suddenly into one of a man ready for everything thrown at him.

The students – and even miss Bedfordshire and the teacher – shared looks at the disappearance of the accent and the words spoken.
"Did he just say 'Rider'?" the teacher whispered sharply, "and what was that with the accent?"
"I believe he just did," she whispered back, "besides, doesn't he look familiar to you?"
"You don't think…?" the teacher asked softly.
The students hushed them both so they could hear the rest of the conservation but the man had already moved out of their hearing range.

"Okay, everyone back to work!" the teacher told them sternly, "miss Daniels, continue with packing. As soon as mister… Sarov returns you'll go with him."
The students grumbled slightly but did as they were told.

It didn't take long before the man returned.
"Sorry about that," he said smoothly – his strange accent once again back in place – as he slid the mobile phone back into his pocket, "are you ready to go, miss Daniels?"
The girl nodded, swung her bag with her school items on her back and walked towards the man.
"I'll return her in your care in about one hour," Sarov told them with a small nod before he turned on his heels and walked away in the same smooth gait he had shown before, Janine close on his heels.

oOo

It was exactly one hour later that the same sound of a car parking sounded. She once again checked the screen to see if she could see the car, but it seemed that the driver – whom she highly suspected to be a former student of that same school – had once again parked the car just outside of the range of the security camera.

The soft sound of two doors opening was soon followed by one door being slammed shut and one door being closed softly before the soft sound of an expensive car being locked sounded. It didn't take long before one Janine Daniels entered the building, followed closely by someone she might or might not have known.

"As promised," the man told her with a gentle tilt of his lips, "one Janine Daniels back from her appointment. I assume that she can make her own way back to her class?"
"I-, yes of course," she answered flabbergasted at the odd question.
"Good," he tipped his head politely towards first the girl and then her, "miss Daniels, miss Bedfordshire, have a nice afternoon."

They watched as he pivoted around and started to move towards the door.

"Thanks for the lift," miss Daniels called after him.
"You are welcome," he responded dryly without stopping to walk or turning around, "good day."
"Good day to you, Alex Rider," she responded softly, but she had no doubt that he had heard her is the slight tilt of his head was any indication.

He disappeared from view not long after and the sound of a car door opening, followed by the sound of car starting up and driving away reached their ears before it too, disappeared.

"Two quick questions," miss Daniels asked her almost hesitantly, "why did he call you miss Bedfordshire? And who is Alex Rider?"
But she just smiled in reaction and shooed the girl towards her next class.

Reviews are as always appreciated.

~Marwana