Lucy kicked the door open, and was ready to spit out any excuse for being late, though was interrupted by a loud, throaty snore.
Alfendi was slumped on his swivel chair, head hung back and mouth wide open. His assistant walked up to his sleeping body and sighed. She had always told him to stop staying up late and sleeping in the Mystery Room, though that was probably too much of a habit for him. The Mystery Room was like his home; he would spend most of his time in the dim office than his apartment flat.
The young constable leaned forward, and stared at some saliva that seeped from the corner of Alfendi's mouth. She successfully stifled a laugh, and hoped that he didn't hear her. Under his hand was a pile of completed cases, all of which were one's the duo had done together.
Lucy recalled those cases, and how hard she worked to solve them. To be honest with herself, she worked hard to impress her mentor. She remembered the one time she considered a piece of fish to be a murder weapon; Potty Prof wasn't too happy with her deduction.
Among the paper, there was a pen and a pair of scissors. A part of her had the urge to draw on Alfendi's face, and another wanted to cut his hair. Not one part of her wanted to leave him be. Drawing some messy doodles on Alfendi's face wouldn't benefit anyone, though slicing his hair might.
His hair is got too long in Lucy's eyes. It is lower than his shoulders, though the inspector stated that it is a suitable length. Constantly, Lucy pressured him into getting a haircut, each time he would refuse to listen. Maybe he liked his hair long. Maybe he was lazy.
Lucy glanced at Alfendi's hair that was hanging off the chair, then at the pair of scissors. Quietly, she reached down to grab it. She began to slowly curl her fingers around it as Alfendi groaned suddenly. Lucy took the large and hefty scissors, and jerked her hand away. She stood behind Alfendi, and bent down to his purple ponytail. Her heart pounded, adrenaline pulsing through her veins.
The blades of the scissors were at the centre of the ponytail, ready to snip it off. Lucy shook her head. She thought that his hair would still be too long if she cut it there. She brought the scissors higher, above his hair tie. She brought the blades together, a few strands falling to the ground. Squinted eyes inspected the bunch of hair closer, and she decided that it would be too short.
"Al! Lucy!" a strained voice called. The door swung open and Florence rolled in.
Alfendi yelled, and so did Lucy. The constable jumped at the sudden cry, involuntarily slicing off Alfendi's ponytail that turned red a second before it met its' fate. The hair fell to the floor, and both Florence and Lucy stared at it, stoic expressions on their faces. Oh heck, oh heck, oh heck! I wasn't supposed t' cut that! Prof's gonna kill me. For real this time!
"Florence!" Potty Prof yelled, though groaned and switched back to Placid. "Ah… Florence, what is it?" As Alfendi stood up, his chair rolled backwards and bumped into the frozen Lucy. He turned around, and followed her gaze to the severed hair.
With a shaky hand, he touched his neck, only to feel his skin, and not a bundle of hair. Immediately, what was left of his hair turned red and curtained his eyes. "Lucy…" he growled. Lucy picked up the amount of rage he was suppressing. "You…" The scissors fell from her hands. She looked at the hair, to the seething inspector, then to Florence who slowly rolled back out of the office.
"I-I-I-" Lucy stuttered. She laughed nervously. She put her hands between them, her palms faced Alfendi. "S-steady on, Prof."
With a quick glance to the doorway, Lucy's heart sunk when she saw that Florence wasn't there. Florence was still afraid of Alfendi's true personality, and she left Lucy to fend for herself. Lucy wasn't afraid of him, though the current situation she was in made her blood run cold.
"For what you did," His eyes flashed and with a piercing glare, "I will cut out your tongue."
Swiftly grabbing the scissors off the floor, he pointed it at Lucy as if it was a sword. Most of Alfendi's threats are empty, though he seemed serious. His assistant was at a loss for words.
Alfendi charged at her, though threw the scissors on the ground before it came in contact with Lucy. She still screamed, and shut her eyes, only to feel a pair of lips on her forehead.
"Just kidding," Alfendi murmured.
The sound of heels on the floor resounded and came closer, and stopped at the entrance of the office.
"What in the... Al, Lucy! Stop mucking around!" Hilda bellowed, hands on her hips. Alfendi switched to Placid with a groan, and took a step back from Lucy who was still a bit shaken.
"You didn't finish the paperwork yesterday-" Hilda stared at Alfendi, eyebrows furrowed. She noticed the scissors and the pile of hair on the floor. "Al, your hair is so short!" she exclaimed. A tinge of red reached her cheeks. "Like…how it was before Forbodium."
Hilda's shy smile left her lips and her eyes were serious again. "As I was saying, you two left the paperwork for yesterday's case for the next day again! It's impossible to get any work done in here if you two lovebirds don't step it up!" Hilda continued to rant on, Lucy and Alfendi hardly listening. Lucy's reason was probably different to Alfendi's.
I were gonna die! But I got a kiss instead! Prof you sly devil.
After a few minutes of parent-like lecturing about procrastinating and the untidiness of the office, Hilda left, and her long blonde hair swayed with every loud step.
The inspector sat down, his chair turned towards Lucy.
"You're not mad, right?" Lucy started, before Alfendi had a chance to speak. "I cut your beloved hair! Without your permission! It looks a little bad, but I'm sure-"
"Lucy, can you put a sock in it?!"
She blinked, and gazed down at Potty Prof who had a smirk on his face. "I'm not as mad as you believe I am." His eyes lightened in colour, hair back to purple.
"You know he won't actually sever your tongue. He looked furious on the outside, though we both know he was pulling your leg. And to be honest, it does look better. I should have listened to you," Alfendi said with a smile. "If you like it, we'll learn to like it. Because we like you."
Lucy's face blew up red. "T-ta, Prof." She took it as a compliment, and took Alfendi's compassion to heart.
"If you go and see what Florence wanted as I complete yesterday's paperwork, I might not cut your tongue," Placid joked with the sweetest smile on his face, which was slightly unnerving. Only slightly.
The young constable saluted. She realised she still had her bag around her, and threw it on the couch. A few things fell out, though she nor Alfendi cared. A bit more clutter to the Mystery Room won't matter.
Lucy ran out of the office, and went to the forensics laboratory. The room was brightly lit, the glass flasks and beakers scattered on the benches, among other scientific apparatus and gizmos. Florence would usually be in the lab, hunched over a blood sample or some other piece of evidence, though she wasn't in sight.
There was a note taped to the open door that read: in the archives.
With the information of the sickly scientist's whereabouts, Lucy headed to Scotland Yard's basement. That was where all the information on past cases were, and the young detective constable detested the place. It was dark and particles of dust would fly around the room, visible under the soft light. The ceiling high shelves would be packed with old cases, boxes would be stacked on them. If one were to trip over a box lazily placed on the ground, their face would slam on the cold concrete floor and probably have blood drip out of their nose. Unfortunately, Lucy was one of the boxes' victims; Alfendi too far away to catch her.
The archives is the perfect setting for a horror movie, and with Lucy's vivid imagination, she would scare herself. She would imagine a dead body climbing out from under a bookshelf, clawing at the ground with blood drenched hands. Lucy shivered at the thought. She could never go in there alone, though Florence will be in there, so she assumed there would be nothing to be afraid of.
Her hand tightly grasped on the railing as she descended down the stairs into the archives. Surely enough, Florence there, binders and folders in her arms. The scientist spun around on her chair, IV drip in tow.
"Thank goodness you're here Lucy," Florence said before erupting in a fit of coughs. She handed the constable all of what she carried, Lucy's arms almost broke from the weight of it. How could Florence carry such a heavy load?
"Take this to Hilda, for me. She needs it for her current case — Achoo! — Interpol stuff, top secret," Florence stated, as she reached for her handkerchief and blew into it. "And great job on keeping your tongue after that stunt."
Lucy was silent, unsure of how to properly respond to that. Florence continued. "I know he's your boyfriend and all, but that doesn't mean he won't do anything dangerous."
The constable frowned. "How do you know? He hasn't done anything as of yet, and he never will!"
Florence smiled. "I'm sure he won't. He loves you too much." She sneezed once. "Come on! Go, on! Hilda needs those!"
"R-right!" Lucy climbed the stairs and headed to Hilda's office. She hoped Florence wouldn't get snatched by a ghost down there.
Hilda's office was a few doors away from the Mystery Room, and was noticeably more organised. Shelves lined the walls and were neatly packed, no boxes lay stray on the ground unlike Alfendi and Lucy's office, or the archives.
Hilda was bent over her desk, past cases neatly spread on the mahogany table. She was completely fixated on them, and was oblivious to Lucy who entered the room.
Lucy tried to say something, though her arms were burning, all she could do was whimper. The folders and files began to feel like it was the same weight of a truck.
The sound of Lucy's whines caused Hilda to peek up. Her blue eyes widened, and she ran over to take the cases off Lucy, and set it on the corner of her desk with ease. "My goodness! How long have you been there?"
"Not long," Lucy replied as she noticed a pin board full of notes. "What's this for?" the curious constable asked, and gestured to the open files. Hilda spun around to look at them again. "Nothing for your eyes," Hilda said sternly. Then she began to smirk knowingly.
"So you and Al are an item now, huh?"
"I beg your pardon?"
Hilda laughed. "It's obvious to all of Scotland Yard. You couldn't hide it forever." She turned her attention back to the files. "So... Have you gone on a date yet?" Hilda asked, the answer a 'no.' They had been busy with cases, and would stay in the office until early morning. There was no time to focus on their relationship.
"Well, I'm sure he's plotting something right now."
"I doubt it," Lucy replied.
X—x—X
Lucy's smile, and the way her eyes shined, Alfendi looked forward to it. He hadn't planned any official dates for the two of them, though winning these tickets was perfect. The inspector won these tickets to the new amusement park by being the first person to complete a 99 picarat puzzle that was in a previous paper. Though for Alfendi, it was child's play.
Lucy was out to find out what Florence wanted. She left her things on the floor, her new book amongst the pile. A handmade bookmark stuck out from the pages. Alfendi picked the book up, and opened it. He replaced the bookmark with the tickets.
He didn't want to give it to her directly, but find it. It is like leaving a ring inside a champagne glass.
Mid-crime, Lucy bursted through the door. "Prof, I'm back... What're you doing with my book?" she asked as she approached Alfendi. She looked at the tickets that sat in the crevasse of the open pages. Alfendi couldn't help but stare at her, his plan foiled. She took the tickets out from the book and studied it closely.
"Prof…"
Alfendi rubbed the back of his neck. "I thought it was about time we had an official date. We're not staying after hours that much anymore, so…"
Lucy took a glance at his face, and Alfendi noticed her eyes were brimmed with tears. He had made many ladies cry — with his job, it was inevitable — though it was his girlfriend crying. "L-Lucy, don't cry, please don't," Alfendi said, and wiped her eyes with the sleeves of his lab coat.
"I'm sorry," Lucy said with a laugh. "I'm just really happy."
Alfendi smiled as he pulled her into a hug. "I'm happy too." Even though you did chop my hair off.
X—x—X
Alfendi and Lucy left Scotland Yard, and stuck close to each other for warmth. The inspector found it uncomfortable, though the feeling of Lucy on his arm cancelled it out.
It was only seven o'clock, though they decided to leave early, and no one protested. He wanted to walk Lucy home and become more of a gentleman.
"Wait! Stop!" A voice cried out, and the couple turned simultaneously. A familiar brunette with a violin case ran up to them, a book in her hand. She squinted at them. "You were the two that were making out in front of me the other day, weren't you?" she said. Lucy turned red, so did Alfendi.
"I wouldn't say making-"
"Yeah, anyway," the woman interrupted. She handed the book to Lucy, and Alfendi recognised it as Flora's. "This is yours, no?"
"Yes…?" Lucy answered. "Ta…"
The woman grinned. "You lost your book, when you kissed," she pointed at Alfendi. "When did you cut your hair?"
Alfendi wasn't sure where she was going with the pointless questions, though he replied anyway. "Today."
"And I bet you kissed today, right?"
"I guess."
The woman laughed. "If every time you kiss you lose something, you better watch out!"
Lucy had an eyebrow raised, and Alfendi looked at the violinist questionably. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.
The woman giggled. "The next time you kiss, you might lose each other!" she answered as she ran off. "Enjoy being lovebirds while you can!"
The pair stared at the running figure, dumbfounded.
"What were that about?"
How dare she say that!? It's going to put the wrong things in Lucy's mind! Our relationship is going perfectly! She had no evidence! Nothing! It doesn't even make may sense! If I could just cut her tongue, gouge her eyes out...
"Pay no attention to it!" Potty Prof growled as he grabbed Lucy's hand and stormed down the footpath. "I may have lost a woman once, but I'm not going to lose you!"
In his peripheral vision, he saw that Lucy blushed and was dazed. He smirked cunningly, and kissed her.
She almost fainted when he did.
Yeah... I'm still alive, I've just been busy. There isn't a lot of drama yet, but it'll come. Alfendi with short hair kinda reminds me of a shoujo manga guy... I dunno why. I'll try to upload the next chapter soon. Try.
Thanks for reading and helping me! I tried to use only past tense, but it was very difficult. Is it better or not? Please continue to help me! I'm really thankful! Thank you x100! :3