A/N: This is my second chapter for this fanfiction. Sorry if I took a bit longer to update. I hope you like it! Read and Review! :)

Prologue Part 2: Of Bourbons and Wasted Chances

That night almost had been uneventful for everyone. When Bond and the young woman(whose name is Clara) had been properly introduced, she revealed that she already thought of him as her mother's comrade.

They got to know each other a little more better as the three of them entered the unit, with M's motherly supervision of course. M had been mostly quiet throughout the whole encounter, except when she feels inclined to answer some of Bond's suggestive questions.

Bond, on the other hand, enjoyed getting to know Clara. He learned that she was new in London and only arrived shortly after her former modelling project had concluded. She was born in Switzerland and there she studied in a private boarding school. At 16, she was sent in Edinburgh to finish her college years.

"I majored both in Computer Science and Law." Clara said. Bond's eyes perked at her revelation. "Really? How come you became a model?" Bond inquired, his interest possibly in its greatest heights.

"I never planned on it, actually. I had a blockmate in college who became my close friend. She was the one planing to apply in the modelling agency after we graduate. She asked my to accompany her then her supposedly handler asked me if I wanted to try as well," she continued, glancing at her mother, "I asked Mum for permission, and she said yes, saying it would be a great diversion from her career."

"Oh ,she was just paranoid." Bond quipped. M widened her eyes and glared at the man sitting opposite from her and her daughter.

"Please, Mum is always worried for me. And I'm having a marvellous experience in the fashion industry." Clara said, her voice mixed with Scottish and Swiss accents.

"But what about your expertise? Surely they can't go to waste?" Bond asked. He never met a women equally involved in careers separately dominated by men and women. He would hate for her to drop a large chunk of expertise that's surely difficult to acquire.

"I haven't planned on it yet. Maybe when I decide to leave modelling." she answered, a subtle hint of sadness sweeping over her face as she thought of the knowledge in laws and computer science going to waste.

M, the overprotective mother she is, called it a night on the middle of Bond and Clara's conversation with, "Drive me back to my home now, Bond. Goodnight, Clara," and stood up, feeling rather cold in the bitter September night.

Bond grunted in response. He was supposed to follow her orders, right? But he held a mischievous smile in his mind as an idea flashed through him. He bid his goodbye with Clara and escorted M back to her home.

After which, he acted upon his idea and went back to Clara's condominium. It was foolproof, M wouldn't know and he and Clara could continue their interrupted conversation. Clara was surprised to see Bond again but figured he was a persistent bloke beneath his 'I'm-an-obedient-agent-to-your-mum' person. They continued their talking and he now talked a bit more personal, like her favourites and stuff about her life, he in return, told her things only a very few people know. Maybe it was because of the bourbon that he opened up to her so easily, but he doubted it. It was more of like she has a aura like that of her mother, but in a totally different way.

Apart from all the things he found out about her, he also had observed that some of her traits differ from her mother's, in a way. For example, she had offered him something to drink, which M would never do herself. Also, she's not hesitant to smile, like a baby. But Bond thought to himself, maybe because M really raised her in a world completely different from ours. And maybe that's why it's so refreshing to see someone like this, because it's rare. M had hid her away from MI6, and she did an excellent job at it. Now that he thinks about it, it almost felt surreal.

That bitch-y M has a spawn and she's very different from her.

In all honesty, he had tried to seduce her, but to no avail, she declined it with her dry witticism that reminded him all well of her stern mother.

He was amused, partly because no woman can resist him and this woman just declines his charm. Another part was because he instantly felt a connection with this woman. She might be a special Bond girl, he reckoned, with no romantic feelings in between, just understanding each others' characteristics and coexisting in them.

"Bond?"

"Hmm?"

"Have you ever been in love?"

Bond was apprehensive, he glanced at her as she looks straight to the kitchen oven. They had been sitting on the kitchen floor for a while now. He decided that it's too late to hide something from her now,"It was more like a bloody confusing scenario which involves women."

"How did you deal with them?"

"I slept with them," now it was Clara's time to look at him. "That's it? What do you do after?" she asked.

"I leave them. When I wake up after I always think it wouldn't work, so I leave them. They might cry, but they'll forget about it after, for sure."

"I'm sure that's not true. I think among all of your past escapades, you might've left a mark on one or two of them." she said, and all of a sudden Bond became curious as to why she asked that blasted question in the first place. "Hey, why did you ask that, anyways? Have you been in love?" he asked.

She laughed after taking a rather long sip of her almost-empty wine glass, "I don't know. I met this guy, maybe 4 years ago in Edinburgh. He was going for doctorate on IT, he also went to some of my classes as 'just sitting-in'. I never really noticed him that time, but then he asked me this difficult math question..."

"Did you answer him correctly?"

"No, I ransacked the university library just to find the answer to his question. Then I saw him there, turns out he didn't know the answer as well." Bond got into a fit of manly giggles, if there was such thing. Clara continued, smiling at the obvious absurdity of the occurrence, "Every night we search all the books in the library that might help us know the answer, but we never found it. The following week he left Edinburgh. He said it was important."

Bond's lips formed a curious frown, "He left you his number or something?"

Clara sighed, "No. I didn't asked for it. I thought those ransacking we did were merely friendly – or flirty, I don't know what's which. But he never left my mind ever since."

"Well that's just stupid." said Bond, not sure if he's feel sorry for Clara or the guy, or both. Clara just shrugged, feeling a bit weary but not all that melancholy, she let a good opportunity pass but it's not much of a loss, either. After all, they were just rendezvous.

"Is he wearing glasses?" Bond asked suddenly.

"No, but he said he had some minor difficulties in his eyesight."

Bond mused to himself, he don't really know a lot of people having eyesight problems or people with glasses. Often times he thought those people are only the nerdy losers, having nothing to do than sit in front of their books or computers, some people like old Q. Oh, how he missed that Q, wearing his signature lab coat and smile. He retired a bit sooner than he expected, he said he needed to rest. As if Bond knew what that meant. His eyes flickered over to the young woman beside him, thinking a bit too deep as him, "Aren't you tired, Bond?"

"As a matter of fact, I am." he said. Clara nodded and they both stood up, dusted off their bottoms, and Clara placed their wine glasses over the sink. "It was nice meeting you, Bond."

"Oh please, call me James."

"Is that a privilege?"

"Might as well be," he half-smiled, but hers were as bright as the waning moon over the night sky.

"Well, I prefer to call you Bond. James sounds a bit moony." she said, he laughed. It's true.

Their day ended with a flabbergasted M, and an older man and a younger woman smiling as they remember how it felt to meet a new friend in an ordinary way, but brought happy feelings along the road.

A/N: There you have it! M's daughter's name is Clara. It's a conjunction of my second name and the name of my favourite model, and it rhymes with Sarah, which one of the people who reviewed this fanfic suggested. The guy was a bit controversial, no? Hahaha :) Thank you so much! I appreciate all your follows, favorites and comments. Keep 'em coming! :))