Dinner and Dancing- rl with Gene Hunt
Hmm, now that had been interesting. If perhaps not exactly what she'd expected; the swirling glitter and snow had been a bit Disney-movie, to be frank, but she's here now, and that's what matters. Or at least she assumes she is. She is, in fact, in a lavatory- a men's lavatory, to be precise, which gives no clue as to where or when it might be. She'll take it as given, though, that she's in 1973 Manchester; Frost seemed to know what he was doing.
Never one to waste an opportunity, she turns to check herself in the row of mirrors over the sinks, brushing her hair behind her ears and making sure her makeup's all in order, tugging a little at the hemline of her dress. She had had great fun picking out an outfit before she left, finding something suitably seventies; she ended up with a little green minidress with flaring sleeves and a pair of knee-high heels in brown leather; a velvet jacket hangs over her arm. It looks good on her, and she knows it; she smirks a little at her reflection. In the mirror, the door to one of the cubicles behind her opens, and a young man steps out, in the process of zipping up his flies. He freezes dead still when he sees her standing there, his mouth actually dropping open. Lucy has to exert an effort to keep herself from laughing.
'Er, marm? Miss?'
He fumbles for words, his fingers still caught at his zip, and she decides to take pity on the poor boy, whoever he is. She turns and gives him her most saccharine-sweet smile, sending a blush flaming in his cheeks. Honestly, if he's a police officer, she can hardly imagine he's a particularly good one. 'Terribly sorry,' she demurs, and swans quite calmly out of the loo, leaving the young man standing right where she'd left him.
There's no doubts as to the fact that she's in 1973 now- everything around her seems to be brown, and the air is rank with the smell of cigarette smoke. Men pass by here and there, none of them looking particularly busy, and certainly all of them with an eye to spare for the pretty girl. She turns up her nose and heads down the corridor; either she'll run into Gene somewhere or she'll find the front desk- the result is the same either way. As it turns out, it's the front desk she finds first, with a no-nonsense sort of woman sitting behind it, middle aged and with her hair twisted back away from her face. She gives Lucy something which falls just short of a glare when she draws her attention.
'Something you wanted?'
Working class, Lucy registers in her mind, probably a spinster, and certainly cynical. She gives the woman a faint, polite smile. 'I'm here to see DCI Gene Hunt. I don't suppose you could help me?'
The woman snorts under her breath, shuffling a few papers into a file and getting to her feet. 'Well, doesn't he just keep fancy company these days? Come on, then.'
And she heads off with just a jerk of her head to indicate that Lucy should follow. It's not long before they reach a pair of double doors and she pushes through. It's clearly the main office- a mess of bad lighting and disorganised paperwork on desks, smelling even more strongly of cigarettes than the rest of the building. A few men look up from their desks, lifting eyebrows- one of them, in fact, is the young man from the loo, and he blushes again at the sight of Lucy and hastily returns to whatever it was he was doing. Lucy's lips twitch.
'Oi, Guv!' The woman's got a formidable voice. 'You've got a caller.'
Never one to waste an opportunity, she turns to check herself in the row of mirrors over the sinks, brushing her hair behind her ears and making sure her makeup's all in order, tugging a little at the hemline of her dress. She had had great fun picking out an outfit before she left, finding something suitably seventies; she ended up with a little green minidress with flaring sleeves and a pair of knee-high heels in brown leather; a velvet jacket hangs over her arm. It looks good on her, and she knows it; she smirks a little at her reflection. In the mirror, the door to one of the cubicles behind her opens, and a young man steps out, in the process of zipping up his flies. He freezes dead still when he sees her standing there, his mouth actually dropping open. Lucy has to exert an effort to keep herself from laughing.
'Er, marm? Miss?'
He fumbles for words, his fingers still caught at his zip, and she decides to take pity on the poor boy, whoever he is. She turns and gives him her most saccharine-sweet smile, sending a blush flaming in his cheeks. Honestly, if he's a police officer, she can hardly imagine he's a particularly good one. 'Terribly sorry,' she demurs, and swans quite calmly out of the loo, leaving the young man standing right where she'd left him.
There's no doubts as to the fact that she's in 1973 now- everything around her seems to be brown, and the air is rank with the smell of cigarette smoke. Men pass by here and there, none of them looking particularly busy, and certainly all of them with an eye to spare for the pretty girl. She turns up her nose and heads down the corridor; either she'll run into Gene somewhere or she'll find the front desk- the result is the same either way. As it turns out, it's the front desk she finds first, with a no-nonsense sort of woman sitting behind it, middle aged and with her hair twisted back away from her face. She gives Lucy something which falls just short of a glare when she draws her attention.
'Something you wanted?'
Working class, Lucy registers in her mind, probably a spinster, and certainly cynical. She gives the woman a faint, polite smile. 'I'm here to see DCI Gene Hunt. I don't suppose you could help me?'
The woman snorts under her breath, shuffling a few papers into a file and getting to her feet. 'Well, doesn't he just keep fancy company these days? Come on, then.'
And she heads off with just a jerk of her head to indicate that Lucy should follow. It's not long before they reach a pair of double doors and she pushes through. It's clearly the main office- a mess of bad lighting and disorganised paperwork on desks, smelling even more strongly of cigarettes than the rest of the building. A few men look up from their desks, lifting eyebrows- one of them, in fact, is the young man from the loo, and he blushes again at the sight of Lucy and hastily returns to whatever it was he was doing. Lucy's lips twitch.
'Oi, Guv!' The woman's got a formidable voice. 'You've got a caller.'