A/N - I am still in denial that Spotless will only have one series. This is a story that focuses on Nelson Clay that popped into my head and I thought I'd take a shot at writing it down. Sophie Cameron and Duncan Shales are my inventions; everything else was created by the brilliant Ed McCardie and owned by the folks at Tandem Communications and Canal+. More chapters to come... Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Sophie Cameron was stunned. "Give us a drink, love," the tall man wearing sunglasses said with a smirk on his face. "Quick like. We don't have all day."

She turned to look at her boss, Duncan Shales, a diminutive man who looked a bit like an elf and had the most gracious demeanor. "Mr. Shales?" she asked tentatively.

"Go on Sophie, dear," he said. "The drinks are on the house." He turned to the man and smiled nervously while rubbing his beard with his right hand. "She's new here. She doesn't know Mr. Clay or you gents. I'll make sure she's fully aware of our arrangement," he told him.

Joey Samson smiled and nodded his head at the old man. "Not to worry Mr. Shales. Glad to see you've got a new bir – I mean some new help around here. I think we'll be stopping by more often from now on." He pulled down his sunglasses and winked at Sophie as she handed him his Italian soda. "Thanks, love. This is for you." He left a £10 note on the counter and walked out.

"Who the hell was that?" she blurted out.

Mr. Shales sat down at his usual table in the back of the shop and wiped his brow. How was he going to explain this to her?

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Sophie Cameron was an American girl who had moved to London after finishing university. She had spent a year studying abroad in an exchange program in London and fell in love, knowing she would eventually call England home. Sophie had grown up the daughter of a perpetually unemployed alcoholic mother; her father denied her existence so it was just the two of them. They moved house frequently and there were times where they lived in shelters because funds were so low. She changed schools often, so she was always the new kid who never fit in, the girl in thrift shop hand me downs who made due with next to nothing, the outsider always looking in. In England she could re-invent herself to be whoever she wanted to be. Rebuilding her life, she had become a free-spirited artist who was fiercely protective and loyal to those she loved. In England she could be whomever she wanted to be, which was was fiercely protective and loyal to those she loved. She lived her life on her terms, no longer tied to the mistakes of her parents.

With a head of curly red hair and ocean blue eyes, Sophie was a typical all-American looking girl. She had lovely pale, creamy skin dotted with freckles here and there, and a smile that would light up a room. She had a medium build, just curvy enough to be quite sexy when she wanted to be but she never felt that she had to flaunt that side of herself. Even with all of the difficulties in her life, she was generally a happy girl with a sweet disposition about her; so much so that people sometimes mistook her for being too nice. It was always satisfying when those folks ended up being shocked when her bawdy side came out as it very regularly did. She could be quite forceful when she felt that someone was being treated unjustly, though. She spent most of her childhood years being invisible, trying to stay out the line of fire from her crazy mother. It was a habit that she worked hard to fight as an adult and she swore to herself she would no longer live her life like that again.

When Sophie was a young girl, she had an aunt whom she would occasionally stay with when her mother was really out of control. Her auntie encouraged her to read books and to learn, and helped her realize that if she stayed in school and did well she might have a chance to get away from her desperate life. Despite the intolerable living conditions, she worked hard and managed to get herself a scholarship to study at university. The day after she graduated high school, she packed her bags, left home and never looked back.

Although she went to school to study literature, she had always loved taking pictures so she took a photography course just for fun and quickly realized that she possessed a real talent. After going to a student art show, she decided her photos were just as good as anything she had seen. So, with the assistance and encouragement of her instructor, she applied to change her major to the fine arts program. Much to her surprise, she was accepted and ended up graduating with honors. Like most experiences during her time in America, she was treated like an outsider in art school. She was deeply resented by many of the other students because she didn't take the 'typical' route. She hadn't spent years doing art projects before getting accepted into the program like many of them had. What they didn't realize was that she had found the one true love of her life. Taking pictures was her salvation and gave her an opportunity to express herself in a way that she was unable to do using words. Their pettiness would never stop her; it only spurred her on.

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"Look, Sophie, those gentlemen are friends of mine," Mr. Shales said. "They run The Royal Oak pub down the road."

"You mean that pub that never has any customers?" Sophie asked.

Mr. Shales cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yes, that's the one. The owner is a man named Nelson Clay. He's very important in this neighborhood, Sophie. I want you to give those boys whatever they want when they come in, do you hear?"

"Yes, Mr. Shales." She had always seen situations where criminals ran the neighborhood in movies; this was the first time she actually was aware of it happening in real life. She wondered how much they were shaking Mr. Shales down for each month. Shit, it was like the Godfather.

She didn't like this business one bit. If there was one thing she couldn't tolerate it was someone taking advantage of a person she cared about. If these men were extorting Mr. Shales, she wondered what she could do to stop them. She was just one person and these boys were clearly not fooling around; they were dangerous. One thing was for sure, though. Duncan Shales was a lovely man and she would do anything to help him.