#joe-lambe

The wonderful thing about Europe is that each country isn’t too far away from the other. So whenever Allegra felt homesick, all she had to do was call her parents and then hop on a plane to Paris for the weekend. 

And over and over again, she would ask Joe to come with her. Everyone knew that Joe lived at the boarding school and was the only student who stayed there constantly year round. But he would always refuse her. 

But then one day, he surprised her and agreed to go with her. So now they were standing on a bridge overlooking the Seine and eating delicious French pastries for breakfast and she turned to him with a wide grin. 

@joe-lambe

Five had been working for the commission for three years now and had very quickly made his way up to being the most successful temporal agent they’d ever recruited. His record was flawless, his kill count higher than any on record and this made him intimidating. It was rare to find a partner within the Commission that was willing to join him on a case so they often sent him alone. He preferred it that way. 

Sometimes however there was a job that needed more than one set of hands and for those, he was paired with a man on the ground. 

He was given a date and an address to meet his partner for the mission. He hoped they’d be competent. 

Enough was enough.

No more squeals, no more kicks. If she had to sing the phrase “Let me entertain you” one more time she would scream.

She was so close to escaping the clutches of that evil woman. If she had only heard Mr. Goldstone’s offer to send her away to school before her mother heard... Well... If only indeed. It seemed to June that her dreams of freedom would only ever be dreams. 

She felt isolated. Her mother wanted her to be a puppet forever. Her sister had yet to see how awfully they were treated on a daily basis. Even her love, Tulsa, was gone. His voice became too deep to pass as a child and was sent far away.

She didn’t even know how old she was with certainty. Mama would tell her she was 9 every year when she asked. She tried her best to figure it out, but she never had any classes, even primary level ones. As much as she wanted to learn, she was sent to ballet lessons instead.

After preforming “Dainty June and her Farmboys” for the twelfth time that week, the showgirl finally hit her breaking point. She ran from the theater, still in her tap shoes and frilly dress, to the police station. Some of the stagehands in her youth told her that the authorities were there to help. That she could trust them. Dainty, soft hands ripped the ribbons from her hair as she entered the building, looking at the person behind the desk as she approached, “Please. I need help.”

The last couple of weeks had been chaotic. Celeste’s birthday party was approaching and she had been planning this party like nobody’s business. The afternoons were filled with not only work and Joe’s physio appointments, but errands that had everything to do with getting Celeste’s party in order. 

And she would have completely lost her shit if it wasn’t for Joe. 

Now that he was walking, he came along with her to order the cake, to buy decorations, and he even had a say in what the invitations looked like, and helped her get to a concept that Allegra was immensely proud of. 

And even though Celeste handed them out to all the kids at school, she knew that not all of the kids would show up. But she hoped some of them would. 

But it was the afternoon of the party and she was both getting ready and making sure that everything was together. And things would be moving faster if the zipper on the Rapunzel costume her daughter insisted she wore. 

The household was quiet, the absence of both the Degray parents being felt in their large and not-so humble abode. They were off in Paris or somewhere, entertaining artists and and writers and social climbers alike. Allegra begged them to let her come with them, but they insisted she stay behind. It was not meant for a single, eligible young woman of her stature, and they didn’t want her causing any trouble. 

So Allegra was currently lying down on her stomach in the middle of the room as her record played some jazz tune. She held a book in her hands, and a wavy tendril of hair kept falling in her face, and she had to blow it out of the way every minute it seemed. She ran her hand through her chin-length hair, cursing the day she ever chopped off her hair for fashion’s sake and vowing to never do such a thing again. But she found herself reading the same page over and over again and she slammed the book shut, rolling over onto her back with a groan and sighing. 

Then an idea struck her, and she sat up quickly, bolting to the kitchens and asking the servants to pack her lunch into a picnic basket and to go and fetch a blanket. She then asked for someone to go and get Joe and ask him to bring the car around - one without the top on so that they could enjoy the rare sunshine and the crisp London air. 

Now with a picnic basket in tow, Allegra walked out of her home and down the stairs, scarf flying behind her as she waved a gloved hand at Joe. 

“I don’t know what possessed Lord Degray to let his only daughter marry someone like Lord Lambe. He’s an orphan...a nobody! Who would want to taint their bloodline with the likes of him?” 

“I feel sorry for the Lady Allegra. I don’t know why she agreed to this marriage out of all of the marriage proposals she’s gotten over the years? Whatever possessed her to marry such a lowborn?” 

“She must pity him! That’s the only explanation! Either that, or she’s completely mad!” 

The woman’s laughter carried throughout the shop and Allegra bit her lower lip, tears of anger springing from her eyes as she looked through the fabrics. Quickly, she picked out a few selections, placed her order, and marched past the women with anger in her eyes and straight out the door. She wouldn’t let them seeher upset. And as much as she wanted to yell at them right now, she wouldn’t. She couldn’t bear to give them that satisfaction. 

A few days ago, Allegra probably wouldn’t be this upset about those women gossiping about Joe. But it was nearing the end of the week of Joe’s ‘accident’, and Allegra had gotten to know Joe quite well. At least, as well as he let her know him. He seemed the reserved sort...but she could tell he was trying. Anyhow, what she did know, she liked. Admired, even. And she could hardly say that about anyone else she knew - other than her parents. 

Allegra thought that her time spent away from Joe when he was off fighting in the war was the hardest thing she ever had to go through. She always thought that she would never experience anything so heartbreaking ever again. 

But coming back home after months of being apart from her one true love, only to find out that he was no longer at the estate and nowhere to be found? That was truly heartbreaking. It almost sent Allegra into her room for days, but she had responsibilities now. She was a woman of means and independence; a lady in charge of her own destiny and future. She couldn’t let it slip through her fingers when she had just gotten it. 

She had blossomed underneath her father’s wing, learning how to manage the paperwork and the accounts. She studied the ledgers, learned about all of the businesses the Degrays were invested in, and even came up with ideas on newer business ventures that could raise her family’s income and status and keep them around for future generations to come. 

She turned a run down home off of the coast of southern France into a beautiful chateau with handmade furniture, beautiful design schemes, and original wall murals in each room, and all while staying within budget. She worked hard to gain her independence and her right to marry who she pleased, and she wouldn’t let anything ruin it. 

So now that she was in London and her parents still in Paris, part of her job was to sit in on these monthly board meetings. But first, they all had a drink or two while socializing, and Allegra was fully aware that she was the only woman in the room, but she held her own while the rest of them tried to simultaneously tease and flirt with her. Despite the fact that she was heading up the entire thing.  

That’s when she saw a familiar face that made her heart stop. And he was looking right at her. The bright blue eyes. The curly hair. That smile...

She approached him. 

All she was given was a location. No name. Nothing else to go by. Not even the name of the guy who sent the tip in the first place. But a job was a job and money was money. So she got her gear together and went to the location. 

She scouted the area, finding a place to climb into the building and she found a fire escape ladder nearby. She smirked; it was almost too easy. Whatever idiot decided on this place as a hideout obviously didn’t do any actual safety checks. 

She jumped up and pulled the ladder down before climbing up it and all the way to one of the windows. The window opened easily, which was strange, and Allegra got a sinking feeling that maybe she was walking right into a trap. Well, whoever it was...that bastard was a dead man. 

She armed herself, making sure her gun was loaded before climbing through the window and landing expertly on her feet. She moved quietly as she looked left and right, her gun pointed at every turn.  

Suddenly, she heard a noise and she turned to the direction. It was dark, so she couldn’t make out the person’s face and she squinted.