I sat in the passengers seat of the Orc ladies car, her radio silent to the patter of rain that assailed the wind shield. The car smelled of grease and fluids, and as I had entered I could make out tools and an auto magazine. At times I wish I knew cars as well as I did the magical world and its many creatures in truth it never really meant anything to me, so long as it got me from point A to point B, as we sat there in silence I regretted my ignorance as maybe we might have something to talk about.
I hate uncomfortable silence that wraps around two people, I try to make it a habit of breaking it always.
"So do you work on cars?" I started my gaze focused on the moving lines of rain that banded across the window.
"No, why do you ask?" she responded her voice tinged with something that sounded like anger.
"Car smells of oil and radiator fluid, that plus the tools I thought you might..."
"Oh, no. I don't work on cars my ex used to..."
"I'm so sorry I thought..."
"No, no, no. Your perfectly fine."
"Ok, I'm still sorry."
"He's a prick."
"Oh."
"Cheated on me with some elf slut. Dumped him a couple weeks ago."
"Sorry."
"Like I said don't be"
"I was being sorry about the emotional abuse, If that makes sense at all."
It went quiet again, I had obviously said something wrong, small talk was never my strong suit. It came from years of social anxiety.
As I pondered my personal problems, I suddenly realized I had never asked for her name. I mentally kicked myself for never asking, it was rude of me not to ask, furthermore it meant I didn't have a name for my files back at the office. Glancing over I saw she was thinking of something, her face was set in an expression of thought.
As I looked at her, her hair shifted in long waves like a field of auburn wheat in the wind. For a second I could feel myself getting lost in the rippling waves, surrounded by the sweet smell that emanated off her. I raked my brain for the origin of the scent, moving through memories trying to place it until I found myself standing before my mothers vanity as a child spraying the many perfumes at hand admiring certain scents and discarding others. One of those bottles in particular smelled of brown sugar, its scent an addicting aroma that demanded I savor each inhalation. My mother had never worn it saying that it was too sweet for her, I never understood what she meant.
"Are you ok?"
A voice pulled me back to the present, I blinked away the memory suddenly realizing I was still starring at the orc lady.
"Yeah I'm ok, I was just trying to remember if you had told me your name," I lied while straightening myself in my seat.
"Oh, It's Lacy", she answered a slight smile playing across her face, "I must have forgotten in all the craziness that happened back there."
"Yeah, no, I understand. I never got to properly introduce myself either", I replied as images of the body on my floor played across my minds eye, "I'm Jason by the way."
"ha ha ha, you know you caught me off guard when we first met, I was expecting some unwashed old man in robes," she said turning her attention from the road to me, "I wasn't expecting..."
"Me", I finished with a quick smile, "I get that a lot.
"How did you get into the profession, if you don't mind me asking", she questioned.
"Well I was mostly born into it, not many normal professions let me help people in a way that matters, normal professions wouldn't let me use magic, and sorcerers only help those with a fat wallet or political affiliation", I answered while relaxing in my seat a bit.
"So, you're a magical white knight?" she asked.
"In a sense, I guess you could say that", I replied a twinge of discomfort playing across my mind, "though doesn't 'white knight' have a different meaning nowadays?"
"True, sorry didn't think about that",
"it's ok", I answered.
The rest of the ride which lasted all of five minutes, was in silence. Gazing out the window my mind drifted back to the dead corpse on the floor of my office. Who was she? Once that question was answered I'd have the information I'd need to begin an investigation of my own into the murder but till then all I had was speculation.
The car came to a stop in the parking lot of a three story apartment complex, the rain still pouring down in a cacophony of splatters.
"We're here", she said putting the car into park.
"Alright, let's get to work", I answered pulling my jacket closer to myself and opening the car door.