Oh yes we'll keep on tryin'
Tread that fine line
Oh we'll keep on tryin' yeah
Just passing our time
- 'Innuendo' by Queen
L must have done something great in a past life. Solène was beyond what he had hoped for, even though he had just so happened to find her in the newspaper that was rolled up on the empty part of the seat next to him. When she properly caught sight of him, her eyes widened for a fleeting moment, before she finally walked slowly to go join him. L noticed that Sue and Gedeon left them alone.
Solène took a seat opposite him and granted him a smile of straight white teeth. She gestured to his coffee. "You ordered the coffee? Good call. Honestly, it's the best thing they do here." Her eyes twinkled teasingly. "So, what you called for, wouldn't you prefer somewhere more private?"
"I have a hotel room booked not far from here," L explained, "but I don't think that's the best idea at the moment, so here is fine."
She arched an eyebrow questioningly. "I'm up for anything, seriously. I've dealt with pretty much everything in the business. Nothing shocks me anymore."
"You sound experienced."
"I am experienced," she agreed. "I've been doing this since I was eighteen."
"And now you're how old?"
She chuckled. "I'm twenty-one now."
L nodded, processing the information. She was perfect if only she would say yes – she matched the whole criteria. She was in law enforcement, she seemed intelligent, capable of dealing with anything thrown at her, was certainly attractive and had a dignity about her he could not quite define. Perhaps it was confidence. Perhaps it was arrogance. Perhaps it was defiance. He couldn't tell. All he cared about now was offering the proposition he had come to speak to her for.
"Please, if you would humor me, I have a request."
This instantly caught her attention. She tilted her head to one side and studied his face with wide blue eyes. "What is it that you want, Mr. Ryuzaki?"
He took a deep breath and prepared himself to say it out loud. "I require your services as a woman."
To his astonishment, she leant forward, placing an elbow on the table and resting her chin in her upturned palm. "To what extent?"
"You are not troubled by this prospect?" His hopes leapt high into the air, did a little dance on the clouds, then drifted gently back down to Earth again. This was only elevated when her facial expression became slightly puzzled.
"No."
"That would make you the first. There are many who have refused my proposition," he admitted, trying not to look too embarrassed.
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, some can afford to be picky."
She had said yes. She had said yes? Who had dropped this blonde package out of heaven onto L's doorstep for once? "Excellent. Now, before we begin, I can assure you that all medical expenses will be paid for, should problems arise-"
For the first time, she frowned. "Is this your way of telling me you have a disease?"
"Not at all. I will have you know that my medical history is completely clean, due to immunizations."
"So you're clear of tetanus shots," she murmured. "That's reassuring."
"I must be certain you are indeed the Solène I have arranged to meet with," L said, "so I have a series of questions for you."
Her answering laugh was cool and sarcastic. "Let me guess. Okay… purple… never done it… only for you, sexy, and… not cheap."
"I beg your pardon?" L spluttered.
"Oh, we'll do it your way, then," she sighed. "Go ahead, Mr. Ryuzaki. Ask the questions."
"I was going to ask you if your family has any history of birth defects," he deadpanned, awaiting her reaction.
"Uh… what?"
"Does your family have a history of birth defects? Blindness? Tourettes Syndrome? Down's Syndrome? Noonan's Syndrome? Physical deformities?" He awaited her reaction with anticipation. He had her consent, but not everything in terms of details.
She was staring in total disbelief at him. "Excuse me?"
He nodded slowly, taking it in. He made a mental note. "No knowledge of birth defects… we can talk about that later…" Sipping his coffee, which by now was beginning to go lukewarm, he cleared his throat. "Now, your eyes, they are blue, that's a recessive gene, and your hair, it is blonde, also a recessive gene… You are clearly a source of less likely alleles."
Abruptly, she stood, holding her manicured hands up in surrender. Her words came out in a rush. "Look, I don't know what's going through your head right now, Mr. Ryuzaki, but seriously… I know it takes all types to make a world… come on… the scientific lingo doesn't do it for me, and I don't intend to try and make genetic disease sound dirty."
L blinked. "I think we misunderstand each other. You see, we would not be engaging in-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" she cried out suddenly. "What are we talking about here?"
"You really do not… understand what I am saying?" L asked.
"Uh, damn right I don't understand!" she snapped. "Why the hell did you call for me?"
"Well, considering your occupation… why are you looking at me in that manner?"
She sat back down cautiously, narrowing her eyes. She appeared to be working something through in her brain. "What do you think I do for a living?"
He reached for the paper at his side and flipped it open to the page with her ad in it, pointing to the column. "It says so in here. Private detection."
"Oh…" she breathed. "Uh… I'm afraid there's been a really stupid mistake made here, and it's not… it's not your fault, you couldn't have known… oh, shit…"
"Would you care to elaborate?"
She decided to put it best straight out and honest. "I'm not a private detective, Mr. Ryuzaki. My ad is in the wrong column."
"Where, then-?"
She leant forward and pointed to the column on the right-hand side of the private detection adverts. "It should be under that one."
He paused. "'Private escorts'?"
"I'm not in detection," she admitted, shrugging.
L could not help but clear his throat. It did not happen often, but he was getting rather hot under the collar. "You are a…"
"A call girl," she finished for him.
"Why would they even havethis content?" he asked nobody in particular. His astonishment was obvious as he futilely attempted to gather his thoughts.
"It's a tabloid paper, Mr. Ryuzaki," Solène pointed out. "This type of content is usually the only content they have."
L stood up and held out his hand for her to shake. She mimicked his actions, standing and taking the hand he offered. It could have been worse. Instead of being offended, she had been rather amused. "My sincerest apologies for the mix-up, Miss…?"
"Kelly," she answered. "My name is Sara Kelly. Not Solène. Mind you, not that my 'clients' usually give a shit. Nice meeting you." She bid farewell to Sue and Gedeon as she started to head out the door. "Shame we didn't get a chance to discuss this fascination you appear to have with my family's contributions to the gene pool. And just so you know, no. As far as I know, the only birth defect in my family's history is giving birth to me." She pointed to her eyes. "Just so you know, my eyes are brown. These are contacts. Bye."
Just as she pushed the door open, she heard L speak again. "Miss Kelly?"
"Yes?" she asked as she glanced over her shoulder at him.
He swallowed. "What do you think of my becoming a father?"
"Well," she chuckled, "begin by choosing sex with someone who doesn't require payment, then… stick around. If you did that, you'd be making a pretty reasonable start as a dad in my opinion."
"Just out of curiosity…"
"Mm?"
"Just out of curiosity, those things you said earlier," he murmured, "to which questions were those your responses to?"
She laughed, trying not to look embarrassed. She touched the side of her neck with the hand not holding the door open and lowered her eyes for a moment before she returned eye contact. "Tell you what. If I ever meet you again in a non-business setting, then I'll tell you. Have a nice evening, Mr. Ryuzaki."
And just like that, she was gone.
L had just discovered the almost-perfect candidate to hire as a surrogate mother, except she was a prostitute. Not only that… he had just let her walk out of his life with unbelievable ease.
He took a deep breath, sat down back in his seat, pushed the newspaper off of the table and was surprised as Sue set a plate of waffles down in front of him.
"I know," she cackled. "You're not the first."
XXX
"You went where?"
It was approximately half-past six in the morning, around seven hours and ten minutes after he had met Solène – no, Sara – for the first time. L had just explained to Watari his lone-ranger-style shenanigans from the night before and his guardian was granting him a long, predictable lecture on personal safety and taking responsibility for one's actions. The funny thing was, L was not denying the fact he had done it, so the part of admitting what he had done was completely and utterly redundant.
Regardless of Watari's irritation and scolding, L felt no remorse for his behavior, just annoyance with himself for letting Sara walk out before he had finished having a conversation with her. L had tried to explain, pointlessly, that despite having acted out, there had been a positive result that night. He had met the woman he wanted to help him pass his genetics down to his own little sleuth-spawn.
Now to find her. How difficult could it be? He had her name after all, and she had openly confessed her occupation, though her terms had been slightly different to his ('private escort'? How polite of her).
"The woman was delightful, Watari, and she displayed… what would you call it…? 'Street-smarts'? She understands social situations, the way that people think generally," L defended his actions. "She was the perfect candidate."
Watari sighed. "You said yourself that she was not actually in law enforcement, L."
"I can imagine it is the oldest profession in the world for a reason," he shrugged.
"You cannot be serious. You, the great detective L, who works so hard to preserve his anonymity and keep the world safe from murderers, thieves, rapists and the like, wishes to procreate with a prostitute from east London?" he spluttered in disbelief.
"Do not make this a matter of class," L said. "And I doubt highly she actually resides in east London. Her accent did not suit that of a Cockney."
"Where, then? You are hardly suggesting that she comes from a wealthy background that implies academic excellence such as Oxford, or Cambridge?" he asked. "I am open to a lot of choices, L, but you had to find the one choice who admittedly I struggle with."
"You do not think she is good enough for me." A statement, not a question.
"My dear boy, I look on you like a son. You have to comprehend that I will find it difficult to think anyone good enough for you, especially when it is a prostitute I have never met before, that you found in a tabloid."
L put a thumb to his lips, considering it. Then he stood and shook his head defiantly. "No more potential candidates. Sara Kelly is the one I have chosen. You should be glad, Watari. Your hardest role in this whole ordeal is finished. Choosing a candidate is done. Now only to find her again and request that she do what we wish to ask of her."
"L, you do not even know if she will do it."
"She will," he said firmly. "She is not like the others. We were looking for the wrong kind of person. We saw only the ones who were highly ranking and had strong career prospects. We should have been looking for ones who had much, much less to lose by giving birth to a child."
Watari nodded, finally giving in. "So when shall we meet this Sara Kelly?"
"Today. I shall seek out her current place of work during the day."
"Good… I only hope it is something a little more dignified than selling her body for money."
"Do not fret, Watari. She seems to be a quietly dignified person."
I told you nothing was straightforward. Now we have met Sara, we know what she does (or part of what she does) and there has been some indication as to her personality.
I hope you enjoyed it - if you did or didn't, you can still review. Constructive criticism if what reviews are for, and if you flame, then you flame. Go ahead.
C.
