He was still in the office, working when Charlotte’s message lit up the screen of his phone. A time and place, nothing more. Valentine stared for a long while at the one sentence before he deleted it and went back to work. His office – the only window on the whole floor still alight, and it remained that way until morning. Until there was no need for the light.
Valentine rubbed cold fingers into his eyes, changed his shirt and tossed on a jacket before walking out of the building. The park wasn’t close, but the walk and the fresh coffee woke him up enough that by the time he sat on a bench waiting for the girl to show, the usual soreness was gone.
When Charlotte walked over, Valentine’s attention fixed on the paper fist. Taking the slip of paper, the Commander didn’t miss the shake of Charlotte’s fingers. He grabbed her wrist to keep her in place while he unfolded the note, checking the name. Valentine gave a single unsurprised nod.
“Your name won’t come up in the reports.” He assured Lottie, tucking the written note in his pocket. A pause chopped the Commander’s words as he took the girl’s looks: “Tired?”
She turned to go, huffing softly as his grip held her in place. Surprised that she could feel herself on the verge of tears at the action Lottie had to work hard to keep them at bay her gaze stuck firm on the solitary piece of paper. As he tucked the paper away she was ready to bolt, not entirely sure that she trusted his word. His question however surprised her enough that she answered immediately, “Yes.” Annoyed with her admittance she shrugged, “It’s a busy time of year, I’m sure half your office are exhausted too.” Lottie tried to pull her hand away. She really couldn’t be seen here with him, tongues would wag far too much.
Lottie's wild adventure 