The element of surprise

The dinner at Portland Row was a tedious event. It usually was these days but tonight even more so as both boys were lost in their own thoughts.

George, who had spent the day at the library researching for a case, was in bad mood after running into his nemesis Bobby Vernon. Although Holly didn't understand what the boys had been arguing about, she knew George had lost the argument. He reminded of an approaching thunder where he sat across the table from her, chasing peas around his plate with a fork while mumbling all the clever things he could have said to Bobby but failed to come up with in the heat of the moment. Any second now lightning would strike.

Lockwood, seated at the head of the table, was as temperamental as a frozen lake. He could have been a statue were it not for the arm shovelling food into his mouth. He hadn't said a word since he returned from the meeting. Had something happened there that occupied his mind? A good thing or a mad thing? If the latter, should she abandon mission?

"… and I swear he took the crossing on two wheels. Didn't slow down one bit. Just spun the steering wheel around and continued as if nothing had happened. I clung to the seat belt for dear life."

She was telling them about the cab ride. She wasn't sure why, though, since neither of the boys listened. Perhaps to chase away the silence. It was too quiet in this house nowadays.

George accidentally shot a couple of peas over the edge of the plate. They rolled like green miniature bowling balls over the Thinking Cloth and tried to knock down Holly's glass. Pointless of course since the glass was much heavier. The peas bounced back and fell off the table.

Holly glared. Who would be forced to pick them up later? Not George, that's for sure!

"And later, in another junction, I'm certain he ignored a red light. This huge truck honked at us and came really close of separating the rear end from rest. I could have died had the truck driver not stomped on the brakes!"

Lockwood, who was done chewing, swallowed and reached for this glass. George muttered something incomprehensible about the most haunted toothbrush mug in London. Whatever that meant...

"I could have died," she repeated, giving each boy a good stare.

Only Lockwood reacted.

"Don't you worry, Holly," said he absently. "It'll be your turn time."

Holly lost it. The boys jumped in their seats when she threw down the cutlery with a bang. h

"You don't listen! If you don't want to engage in a conversation, that's fine, but you could at least listen to what I have to say!"

George shied away like a rat from a flashlight. Holly turned to Lockwood who at least had the decency to look at her without rolling his eyes. Oh, she was so going to get back at George for that later.

"I'm sorry, Holly. I'm afraid my head was elsewhere. What did you say?"

"I was telling you guys about my day. How I thought it was going to be my last day because of a reckless cab driver. Not that either of you cares. I'm sure you have more important things to think about. Don't let me take up your precious time."

She hadn't intended to sulk but sulking was exactly what she did. Lockwood put down his glass on the table and judging by the jerking George made, Lockwood kicked him on the shin.

"We hurt your feelings. We're truly sorry, aren't we, George?"

George grunted something that sounded much like: "If you say so."

Lockwood smiled apologetically and Holly felt her anger disappear. She hated how he did that, smiled and turned people into his very own puppets. She hated it even more since it worked despite she knew that was what he was doing. How had Lucy been able to resist him?

Holly wasn't completely unarmed, though. When Lockwood asked about her day beside that dreadful cab ride, she felt the devil's horn grow out on her forehead.

"It was very productive. Thank you for asking. I completed all chores in time to make the errands I've been putting up for so long. The piles of paperwork that were due soon – gone!"

"Well done..." But Holly didn't let Lockwood finish.

"So, I decided to celebrate by having tea and biscuits with Lucy."

The reaction was exactly what she had hoped for. Heads jerking up. Stunned silence. Confused looks. Finally, she had their full attention. George even had his mouth hanging open. She could see a poorly chewed piece of steak in there. Ew, gross! Flo could have him any day.

The only thing that could have topped off the moment was if Lockwood had spitted out the water, he had just taken a sip of, but of course, he was too poised to ever let anyone or anything surprise him that much.

George broke the silence after swallowing his food.

"Did you say Lucy?"

"Mhm."

Holly snatched a lettuce leaf of her plate to nibble on.

"Lucy Carlyle?"

"The very one."

"You met with Lucy Carlyle?"

"For tea and biscuits. There's a lovely café where she lives. We should all go Tooting someday. It's actually a really nice place once you give it a chance."

Liar! Tooting may not have been as bad as she thought but that didn't mean she was willing to go there again. Or likely to, for that matter. But the boys didn't need to know that. A white lie for the greater goods… who cared in the end? No one.

"You had tea with Lucy Carlyle?" said George with the same astonishment Marissa Fittes and Tom Rotwell must have felt when they defeated their very first ghost.

"And biscuits," Holly pointed out.

"In Tooting?"

She might as well have said the moon for the surprised look on his face.

"Yes, that's where she lives."

"You had biscuits and tea with Lucy Carlyle in Tooting?"

"Yes!"

George was quiet while he processed this information, then he said: "Why? The two of you hate each other."

"We don't hate each other." Holly reached for her glass of mineral water just to have something to do. "I admit we had our tiffs, but after the Aickemere-case it's all in the past."

"But…"

"We're friends now," reassured Holly. "It's not strange for friends to have tea and biscuits together, now is it?"

"No, but in Tooting... How did you know she lives there? I never saw an address in the advertisement she posted."

"Oh," said Holly and felt a huge grin coming on. "I got the address from Lockwood. He's had it laying around on his desk for ages. Couldn't for the life of me figure out what could be so special with mysterious piece of paper laying around his desk week after week. No name, no clues what to find there, just the address. I thought to myself 'what could be so secret in Tooting that Lockwood doesn't want to share it with us by adding the address to the phone book'. Today I decided to find out by going there myself. What I found was Lucy."

George's jaw dropped and he turned to Lockwood.

"You knew where she's been hiding? And you didn't tell me?" Hurt was triumphed by curiosity. "Have you been to see her?"

Lockwood, who had not moved a muscle since Holly had mentioned Lucy the first time, finally broke the paralysis. He put down the glass on the table. Very. Slowly.

"He hasn't been to see her," said Holly before he had the chance to saying anything. "Lucy told me so herself. She was very surprised to learn that you knew where she was since she has been very careful not to reveal her address to anyone. She would very much like how you got your hands on it and from whom. And frankly, so do I."

Lockwood chose his words carefully before he answered.

"I had Kipps following her." His voice was low and tentative. "I wanted to know how to reach her if we ever needed her for a case. And no, I haven't been to see her. I didn't tell either of you about it since it's none of your business. What I do, when I do it, how and if I do it is my business and you do wise to stay out of it. Now Holly..."

He cocked his head in her direction so quickly she had no time looking away. His gaze, dark like a thunderstorm, nailed her to chair. Shit! He was pissed.

"… I would really like to know why you, who I hired to make day-to-day activities run smoother, not to make decisions, run around and have tea with former associates on paid time?"

Okay, so maybe pissed wasn't enough to describe his wrath. Perhaps furious was a more accurate word. But Holly was angry too.

"A former associate?" she spat. "Lucy is our friend! Maybe you have forgotten how things used to be around here when she was still with us, but I haven't! I miss her. I miss what this place used to be like when she was around. The laughs, the conversations…" She added the emphasis to annoy him. "It's all gone now. So, yes, I did go to see her. I wanted to persuade her to come back. And no, you'll not hear me apologies for it. Deep down I think you want the same thing, otherwise you wouldn't have hold onto that piece of paper for so long."

Lashing out at him perhaps wasn't the best idea but today's event had shaken her to her core.

"We really hurt her, Lockwood. You, me and George."

"Me?" said George. "How did I hurt her? How can she be hurt anyway, she's the one who left us, remember!"

Typical George to reduce something so complex as human emotions to something so simple.

"Yes, you hurt her too. We pushed her into a corner until she had no other choice but to jump. It wasn't easy and not a choice she wanted to make. She did it because she had to."

George looked as if he was about to say something but Lockwood beat him to it.

"She told you why she left."

It wasn't a question but Holly winced anyway. Up until now he had probably thought that if Lucy was ever going to confide in any of them, it would be him. It still would have been, had not Holly forced it out of her.

"Yes," she admitted quietly. "There's more to Aickemere-case than we thought, but it's not my place to tell."

"Hang on," said George who suddenly remembered something. "Didn't you say you went to see her to try persuading her to comeback? What did she say?"

"No, of course." Holly shook her head. "But it's not my request to make anyway, is it? I am after all only here to 'make the day-to-day activities run smoother'."

Lockwood's eyes narrow upon hearing his own words be thrown back into his face. She hoped the next part would have her forgiven.

"But I did manage to get her to agree into seeing you." She looked right at Lockwood, who once again had become a statue. "I've made a reservation for you at the Gentle Ghost tomorrow night. If you want answers, that's your chance."

"Why just him?" said George from his side of the table. "Why not me too? I want answers too."

Holly wanted to tell him that with his social skills he would either have her stab him or make her turn at the door, but decided for the peace in the house not to. Instead, she settled for a: "You're neither the owner of this company, or the house. You don't have a say in who gets to live or work here."

George opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. Good boy. Maybe there was hope for him after all.

Holly turned to Lockwood who looked as if he was debating with himself.

"Will you go and see her?"

He was quiet for a long time. When he finally spoke, the words came out uneasy and hard.

"I appreciate the effort you have put in, Holly. I know it must have taken you a lot to arrange this meeting. It was kind of you to do so and I'm really sorry to say that I'm not sure it's worth the effort."

Holly's jaw dropped.

"You won't go?" She glanced at George who looked equally surprised. "But I thought…"

Lockwood shrugged.

"It's like I said, I've been keeping an eye on her in case we need her – her talent – for a case. She made it perfectly clear that she would never return to Lockwood and Co when she resigned so I don't see why I should bother myself to try to convince her of the opposite. She has this absurd idea that she is protecting us by staying away. I tried talk sense into her before she left but was unable to. I don't see what has changed to get another outcome. I'm sorry."

He pushed back his chair to stand up. Holly felt desperation starting to spread. This wasn't how she had pictured it. He was supposed to be happy, to get excited. They were supposed to lay the tactic on how to get her back together.

"A lot can happen in four months, Lockwood. She will have had time to think things through. Sometimes you need to take a step back to see things clearly."

Lockwood gave her sad smile. "I'm sorry, Holly. But I just don't see it."

And with that, he left the kitchen. Holly sat there for the longest time, staring at the point where he had disappeared and wondered how she could have misjudged him so completely – didn't he love Lucy then?

It wasn't until George spoke, that the negative thoughts came to a halt and she became aware of his presence in the room.

"Why didn't she want to see me? I'm her friend too. And I have been living here the longest next to Lockwood. I'm practically a part of the inventory."

"She's not in love with you," was the simple answer.