A/N: This is a new story I'm working on...it's going to be short, but multi-chaptered all the same.

Please review at the bottom.

He might as well just stop and turn around now.

Adrian was just simply sure that she had been…he was just sure. He was sure that he should go ahead and use his lunch hour to go to that office- it was only a few blocks away and it was nearly winter so it was cool enough to walk there. Adrian sighed, stood up, and grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair as he began to walk away.

"Going somewhere sir?" his assistant Jeremy asked. He was a stringy kid, but not too tall. He had big eyes behind those glasses, always wide with wonder. It amazed Adrian that he was a twenty-six year old with an assistant.

"I'm just going out for my lunch break for once Jeremy, hold down the fort for me while I'm gone," Adrian chuckled as he pat the younger man on the back.

"Yes sir," Jeremy nodded and did a sort of bow. He backed away to finish doing whatever work he could finish and Adrian began leaving the office. The smile he had slipped on for his assistant fell off and his eyebrows scrunched together under the weight of his thoughts and the stress on his shoulders.

Adrian took step after step and he mainly looked down at his feet because he knew the way, and he his feet were in pain because he should probably get better shoes. It wasn't something that could be done too soon though and he didn't spend as much time on his feet as some others did. Of course, the pain in his feet was also like a pain someone would get when they were standing on a ledge, an ache that told him to step away from danger. His feet were telling him that he shouldn't be walking to that office.

So he really just might as well stop and turn around now.

Except there was no way that he could turn around now because he just opened the door to the small and unfamiliar office and a little bell rang at the top of the door signaling his arrival. A stereotypical secretary, an older, chubby, and sweet looking lady looked up and over her reading glasses at him and smiled nicely. He turned the corners of his lips up in response but dropped them just a second later.

"Hello dear. Do you have an appointment?" the old secretary lady asked him. His mind went blank for a moment but he found some words, his mind working after his brain made the effort to make him move- by taking his jacket off and putting it on the coat-rack.

"Uh, yes…I think. I think I set up an appointment for two in the afternoon for Friday the 25th?" he checked. The secretary- her name plate said Ms. Winifred Jensen- peered down at the open schedule book in front of her through her glasses. She looked back up almost immediately.

"Oh yes! Mr. Adrian Reed I presume?" He nodded with a small smile and stepped forward because it felt like that was what he was supposed to do.

"Okay, well, are you a new client or an old one? While you're meeting with Ms. Malana I'll have to get your file out. Did you come in to set up the appointment or did you call?" Ms. Jensen questioned further.

"I uh, I called in…and this is my first meeting with Ms. Malana," he spoke without assurance. She nodded as though this uncertain nature was normal for the clients that came in. He supposed that would be an appropriate guess.

"Okay deary, that's fine. Just step into that office there and shut the door behind you. I do believe she's in there," Ms. Jensen instructed. Adrian nodded and walked forward a few yards while hearing Ms. Jensen alert Ms. Malana of her appointment through a speaker. He felt a surge of mental shock when his hand touched the metal doorknob. How could he really be doing this?

He turned the doorknob, opened the door, and finally stepped inside while shutting the door behind him. A young woman looked up.

"Ms. Malana, a young Mr. Reed is here to see you for his two o'clock appointment," Ms. Jensen's voice filled the room via the intercom-speaker-thing on Rosalie Malana's desk. Rose looked at the speaker, and then all the clogs in her brain started turning quickly enough for her to have the folder Ms. Jensen had previously prepared on her desk before Mr. Reed came in. Rose smiled because of this although it probably looked like she was just putting it on for professional courtesy.

A young Adrian Reed tentatively closed the door behind him, clearly somewhat shocked at the sight before him. Rose knew immediately that he had been expecting an older and…less aesthetically appealing woman, with a tiny office. He hadn't been expecting a fit 27-year-old to be in an office that was big enough to hold 2 of the dingy ones he had been expecting, and was much cleaner for that matter. Plus, his folder was nearly empty, which means he had probably never gone to someone of her profession before. She saw this sort of apprehensiveness all the time.

"Good afternoon Mr. Reed. It's nice to finally meet you," Rose said pleasantly as she stood up and walked around her desk to greet him with a handshake. He shook back and he had a good grip which obviously meant he'd had some practice before.

"You too Ms. Malana. Your office is quite nice, and quite cool, a nice change from the temperature outside," he commented nicely. Her smile widened for a brief second.

"Thank you- I try. I prefer coolness over the heat. Please," she gestured to the chair, "sit down. Make yourself comfortable." He nodded and gave her one of those short-lived, out-of-courtesy smiles and sat down.

"I have to ask how long you think this meeting will take, because I have to be back at my office by two," Adrian admitted. She nodded.

"You'll definitely be out of here by then. I just need to know a couple things, set up a couple things involving payment, and then we'll be out of here," she assured him. He nodded.

"Great. I suppose first I should tell you why I need your services?" he guessed. Rose laughed a little and did a slight nod.

"Not so much as why, just who I need to do my job on, details on that person, and then how long I'll be following them," Rose clarified. Adrian nodded and swallowed.

"Right. Sorry if I don't know what to say exactly, I've never needed a private investigator before," he confessed quietly.

"It's fine. A lot of my clients nowadays are first-timers. It's really rather simple, the first thing I need is the name of the person I need to follow, and perhaps that person's relation to you?" Rose began as she clicked a pen, signaling she was ready to write. He took a deep breath.

"It's my sister. Avery has been acting…weird lately. She isn't calling nearly as much anymore, and I saw her once by accident since she lives in the area, it wasn't in the best part of town, and I noticed that her eyes were bloodshot. I just need someone to tell me exactly what's going on because I know she won't tell me. She was also with this guy named William H. Thompson," Adrian spoke clearly. Rose nodded.

"Is there are reason you know his name?" Rose questioned, making sure that Adrian wasn't already stalking the two. There was no need for her to get involved with a psychopath without at least knowing first that he was in fact a psychopath.

"He's my boss." Well that changed things a little.

"Alright well, I'll certainly make sure to find out what's going on. If you could give me her address and maybe your boss', and any other useful information, that would be great. Just write it down here," Rose instructed as she handed Adrian a legal pad and a pen. He nodded and scribbled some things down while Rose took in his appearance.

He was wearing a white button-up and a tie that was to his left and out of the way. He was kind of tan, nice and nearly black but still brown hair. Of course the beauty of being able to see him so clearly was so she could see what kind of person he is, because sometimes just profiling someone is all in the body language and physical appearance. As much as people say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, it was easy to come to some conclusions.

Adrian worked in an office, and this was proven by his handshake and the way he dressed. It was also clear that he was stressed, because he wouldn't be here if he wasn't. He also seemed like the worried type period, because of the way his shoulders hunched up so much when he bent over the pad. He didn't look like he got the best sleep in the world because of the very slight and almost unnoticeable bags under his eyes, and that definitely backed up the stressed argument.

"Here you go," Adrian murmured as he handed the pad and pen back to her. She nodded and briefly scanned the paper.

"Oh good, you have nice handwriting," she commented. She smiled at him. "That rarely happens. Very nice."

"Thank you. Um, if you don't mind, could you start…doing your job…on Sunday? My sister should be coming over for dinner tonight and tomorrow, and normally when she's with me I can get a better sense of what she's been up to or if something's going on. I just don't have time to follow her around otherwise," he smiled sadly. Rose nodded and reassured him. They stood up, and Rose led Adrian to the door where he got his jacket, and she sent him on his way.

"He's a looker isn't he?" Ms. Jensen did a sort of giggle that older women do when they see younger nice looking men. Rose chuckled.

"Yeah he's alright. Tell you what though- he needs to see a masseuse."

That had gone better than he expected. It was simpler than he had expected. It was nicer too. She was sweet and cute in some underlying way, and he was nervous around her. He felt nervous because of the energy she put out. It was strong and he could tell that if she looked at someone the right way they could have a nervous breakdown of some sort. Her auburn hair along with her hazel eyes made her electrifying. Overall she seemed sly and seductive and good at getting what she wants, and she could still put on a show that made her seem very sweet and pleasant (although the feistier side was probably pleasant too). He could tell she'd be good at getting her assignment done, and that was a sigh of relief for him.

He was worried about his sister. Avery just hadn't been herself for months, and he wasn't entirely sure why. He knew that it couldn't be anything good, because she only seemed stressed out anymore, she wasn't especially cheery at all, and worse than that, it was like it was really eating at her- literally! He'd gone to hug her once a while back and right before she pushed him away, he'd felt the slight lack of meat on her body. She was a fit person, she felt almost skinny then. That wasn't the only thing that bothered him about her either.

Charleston wasn't the biggest town in the world, and Avery didn't live too far away, so they shared quite a few streets frequently. Adrian had been taking a rare walk on one of the town's cooler days, and he saw his sister having a somewhat unpleasant conversation with his boss- Mr. Thompson. Adrian already knew that his boss wasn't strictly clean, and he knew that there was some slight shadiness to his character. That's exactly why Adrian didn't bring him up with his sister, or any conflicts Adrian could possibly have with him. He wanted his sister to not know anything about him, to keep her safe.

Yet there she was, sitting across from him in that Subway. What the hell were they doing there? Anyone who knew Adrian's life, anyone who had ever met him or his sister, knew this was something to get a little worried about. Some would even say they wouldn't be surprised at the action Adrian took to getting the private investigator.

Sighing, Adrian looked up to make sure that he was standing at the right sandwich shop, and then opened the heavy door to go inside. It was definitely darker and nicer inside, and it made him envy the air conditioning. It wasn't very good at his office, and he knew that if money was being handled honestly then they should have better A.C. Adrian remembered that as another reason he didn't trust his boss.

Adrian ordered his sandwich and as he waited for the small worker girl to finish making it, he looked around and smiled at the décor. It didn't matter how many times he stepped into the little shop, he always liked to look around. It was a small shop and close enough to his office that he went there frequently.

"Here you go, sir," the small shop girl whispered as she handed him his sandwich. He paid for it and went to sit down. He gave himself about fifteen minutes before he had to go back to his office. That was incredibly longer than he normally gave himself- normally he only came in to get his sandwich and leave, but never to stay and eat.

A few minutes into his sandwich, the door opened and the bell above it chimed. A familiar, girly voice rang into the shop.

"Alice? Can I have my usual?" Adrian looked up and saw the private detective he had just spoken with walk into the shop. The same small girl that had made his own sandwich lifted another one into Rose's hand, and after Rose handed her what seemed to be more money than needed, Alice handed her a beverage as well.

"Here you go Rose. Do you have time to stay today?" By this time Rose was already looking at Adrian, and there was no doubt she hadn't first noticed him before he noticed her. She smiled briefly, but answered the girl's question.

"I can't today. I have a final meeting with one of my clients today, but you can expect me in here tomorrow. You can also expect Jade- she always seems to want lunch around the same time I get paid for one of my cases. Isn't that odd?" Rose inquired jokingly as she started to leave the shop.

"Very odd. I'll see you tomorrow then," Alice's voice- she was too short for Adrian to see from his seat- said a goodbye, and Adrian followed Rose out with his eyes. The redhead did a sort of inconspicuous wave towards him, and there was a smile that tugged on one corner of her lips that he just barely saw.

He spent the rest of his lunchtime deciphering exactly what had just happened.

A/N: Well, that was the first day of Adrian and Rose knowing each other. Please subscribe to the story if you'd like to read about what happens next.

Please review, as well.

~RosesAndWriting