Westwood.

Rain pelted the station's windows. The glass on the walls were filthy, I realized,  now that the rain drops plowing across the sparkling exterior highlighted the dirt. Small handprints and unknown smudges polluted the image to the outside. As I was staring quite aimlessly out of the station window a large, ungainly man came into focus beyond the rain spattered pane. He waved frantically at me and I felt my heart sink. He was unfamiliar, he was out of breath and seemed in a rush and he was most importantly waving a small white envelope. 

He was a man with a case, and no detective. 

A man with money and a case. I felt a tad bit happier and rose to greet him as he came sputtering into the station. 

"Bad spot of rain to be out in sir," I said in an effort to be kind, helping him out of his great coat. There was no tag- it was handmade, custom and very well taken care of by the way the water ran right off of the collar. 

"I know," he replied, disgruntled and wobbling with suppressed annoyance. As I got a chance to look him over I saw that his many chins were illustriously decorated with a necktie from Westwood and a series of expensive pins lined his lapel. One was obviously military but the rest were undefinable to me. 

"Do you happen to be the detective I was directed to find at platform eight?"

I was about to respond by stating the obvious but I decided against it and responded simply,

"Yes. I see you are in some trouble then..."

"I am in a vast amount of trouble. As you can see, I am not at my best but there is plenty of reason for that, as you will know. Come, let's get a cuppa somewhere and have a chat, shall we?" He seemed intelligent enough and although I knew he was marvelously rich, I didn't doubt that he had a good heart. 

P.S Sorry for the weird outline on this text, I couldn't remove it for some reason. Next post will be normal!

Asa.

This is a scene from a recent story I'm exploring. I felt like it created a mood so it's officially part of my description/setting experiment now. Enjoy!

...I decided in a second that no one could know Asa had been here. It was strange enough having my friend over when he was awkwardly invited. I had to hide him but how I was going to do that between the three seconds flat it took Maggie to thump downstairs, and ask grumpily what was for breakfast, was an impossible magic trick. I gave up.  Right on cue with my thought train, my little sister came downstairs, black hair an absolute mess and still clumsy with sleep; As soon as she saw Asa’s imposing frame leaning against the sink, she bolted straight back up stairs. She was gone so fast I could practically still see her when I blinked.

“She’s so annoying.” I said suddenly.

“It’s alright.”

“No, it’s weird. My little sister having a crush on anyone is fine but not you. She’s weird.”

“Whatever man. I guess I'll get outa your hair- I just came to tell you Heather was away. Oh, and also, that I got a text from my mom.”

I felt my jaw drop.

“Your mom?”

“Mhm.”

“When, exactly?”

“Around three A.M last night. Well, technically this mor-”

“What’d she say?”

Asa frowned because I had cut him off and took out his lighter again.

“She said she needed money. Fast.” Lighter on. He avoided looking at anything within a two foot radius of my body.

“Annnd are you gonna ask her where she is?” Lighter off. On again.

“Maybe.” Asa seemed insecure- undecided.

“She seemed scared. Very shorthand, very cryptic. Not that I’m used to her texting me all the time or something but…you know.” Asa gave me a long, hard look. I swallowed some cereal and found I wasn’t actually hungry anymore.

“What’s she doing texting you? She hasn’t seen you since-”

“Stop!” Asa’s eyes bulged slightly. He grabbed his glass out of the sink again and filled it.

“Let’s go to the park,” I said quietly, “We won’t have to worry about Maggie hearing anything there.” Asa dipped his head in agreement, swallowed, and dumped the glass out. 

--dh