She'd expected to be first at the service project site and had actually planned it that way. But Saffron honestly hadn't given thought to the reality that she might be the only person to show.

After an hour's wait for her colleagues, as well as for these high-minded lawyer associates Tony had promised would gladly assist, Saff was furious. Even Tony wasn't there and this was all his bloody idea.

I knew he was playing me for a fool, she thought angrily. Arrogant, selfish, lying...

Still in the process of silently calling Tony every swear word she could invent on the fly, Saffy was brought back to herself by the sound of someone calling her name. She looked up to where the noise came from, only to see Tony's thin-lipped grin greeting her from three floors up.

"Oy! Saffron!" he yelled down at her from an open window. "You're late, girl! Slept in, did ya?"

Girl?

That raised her hackles.

"As a matter of fact, I didn't!" she hollered back up at him, seething. Already she wanted to smack that ridiculous grin right off his stupid gob.

"Got no sleep a 'tall, then, eh? Atta girl!" Tony yelled in reply, clearly enjoying himself at her expense.

ATTA GIRL?!

Refusing to dignify that last suggestive remark with an answer, Saffron stalked into the building and began making her way up the stairs. Part of her wished when she got to where Tony was, that ridiculous countenance of his would somehow be tumbling out of the window. She could set such a thing in motion.

"Chance would be a fine thing," she muttered to herself as she climbed the stairs.

But then she thought of him actually being hurt or taken ill. And the idea somehow worried her.

Reaching the third floor, Saffron picked a path through broken furniture, shattered glass and general rubbish. At last, she tracked down her quarry; Tony was in a corner room of what had once been a small flat, busily sweeping up decades' worth of dross.

Now it was her turn to needle him.

"Well, look at you," Saff said pointedly, leaning on the doorframe. "Quite the little hausfrau, then, hm? Lose your feather duster on the way over?"

Tony took her jesting in stride.

"All's I need's an apron," he shot back, his natural Cockney accent ebulliently bursting through. "'Elps slim me hips, y'know."

"Minding your girlish figure?" Saff remarked, letting her trademark smirk play at the corner of her mouth.

"I'm not the worst master of a woman's… assets," Tony said, his brown eyes settling on Saffron's chest. She immediately folded her arms over her body, shielding herself from his view.

"I'll bet," Saff snipped.

Seeing that he might be getting under her skin a bit too quickly, Tony flashed her a friendly smile and, raising an eyebrow, offered her the broom he'd been using.

"Tell you what: You finish sweeping up 'ere and I'll tote that old furniture down a ways, eh?" He enjoyed teasing her but he reckoned he should lay off while he was still somewhat ahead in their little game. "Deal?"

Saffron set her jaw, studying him with a fixed, caustic glare. At length, she responded to his quizzical look with her own slightly elevated eyebrow.

"Deal," she said, fixing Tony with a wry grin. Warily, she took the broom from him. He smiled again and started past her. As Saffron began sweeping up, Tony called to her from the doorway.

"Ah… 'Ey, Saff?"

She looked up from her work.

"Yes?"

Tony's eyes met hers.

"'Oller if you need me 'elp. I know you must be all tuckered out from, ah… last night, yeah?"

He winked at her before quickly ducking out of the doorway.

Saffron, enraged anew, hurled the broom towards where he'd just been standing.

Tony poked his head around the corner of the doorframe, that stupid grin of his quickly setting Saff's blood to boiling.

"Missed me!" he brayed, waggling his thick, dark eyebrows lasciviously at her.

"WHY, YOU BLOODY BUGGERY…"

Saff's outburst was met with the sound of Tony's laughter echoing back up as he practically bounced down the stairs with glee.

"Atta girl! Haaaah! ATTA GIRL!" he taunted, loudly enough so she could hear him when he reached the first floor. "ATTA GIRL, MISS MONSOON!"

Damn him! He'd got her again. A brand new parade of profanities marched angrily through her mind.

She stomped through the litter on the floor towards the door to retrieve the poor broom, which now lay rather forlornly out in the hallway. A shaft of sunlight illuminated the area around it.

Saffron thought of one place she'd like to shove that broom just then, a place where the sun didn't shine.

Unfortunately, that arse was three floors down at the moment.

Returning to her task, Saff furiously swept until the floor was about as clean as it was ever going to get without being fully repaired and refinished. She took up the dustpan, brushed a good amount of trash and random dirt into it and, not seeing any sort of wastebasket, frowned.

What should she do with the mess?

"Saff! SAFF!"

That bloody braying of his again. The word "ass" in its animal and human sense came to Saff's mind.

"OY, GIRL!"

She went to the window. Tony stood below, grinning rakishly up at her. Saffron glared down at him.

Girl.

"Quit faffin' about up 'ere and get to your sweepin', ey?!" Tony teased, letting himself go full-on East Ender to ruffle Saffy's West London feathers. "We ain't got all day!"

Rather full of himself, isn't he? Saff thought.

When she didn't respond to his obvious good-natured ribbing, Tony reckoned he might have pushed things a bit too far.

"Hey, Saffron!" he yelled up towards where she stood, looking down at him with an absolutely flat, humorless expression on her face. "I was just joking, you know? Don't pay it any mind!"

She had to marvel at his ability to seamlessly switch from loudmouthed Cockney to cultured London lawyer. It was extraordinary to hear the change in his tone and see him alter his whole persona in 0-to-60.

Tony peered up at Saffron through the early morning sunlight, squinting as he tried to see if he'd truly angered her.

"Saff?"

He sounded worried, Saffy noted.

Good.

"SAFFRON? HEY, SAFF, COME ON!"

Without a word, she eyeballed the full dustpan in her hand, indulged herself with an evil smirk meant only for Tony and, leaning out the window, dumped the lot of the contents down his way.

"'EY! WHAT 'APPENED THEN?" Tony hollered back up at her, coughing and dusting himself off as best he could.

She'd brought out the Cockney in him again, which gave her a surprising amount of pleasure. It was a small victory, but a delightful one.

As Tony continued coughing and slapping at his jacket, Saffron flashed him a wicked grin. Then she allowed herself to let loose with a cascade of laughter, the sort she rarely enjoyed much anymore or got to share with others.

Tony folded his arms over his chest as he peered up to where she stood, smiling and laughing. She looked so beautiful to him at that moment, in that sunlight, that he had to catch his breath. He loved the sound of her laugh, musical and light, full of sheer happiness.

For a few moments, they were both silent, each quietly considering the other from where they stood.

Saffron expected some kind of quick rejoinder from Tony, but he said nothing. In fact, he simply turned and walked off. This surprised her and the smile dropped from her face as she watched him head down the street towards some nearby shops. Where was he going? And when would he be back?

Would he come back?

She thought of going after him, but opted to stay where she was. After all, someone had to stick to doing work on this project and if Tony was abandoning things, she'd see them through. Swallowing hard, she took up sweeping again, even though there was nothing to clean.

He can joke around, she thought petulantly, but I can't?

"Right," she said sharply, steeling herself against the idea that anything Tony did or said mattered to her.