Because I Could Not Stop For Death | Lockwood & Co.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄

— 𝖆 𝖈𝖆𝖕 𝖔𝖋 𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖉 𝖆𝖈𝖗𝖔𝖘𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖐𝖞

𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐖𝐎𝐎𝐃 & Co. had treated Eden fairly nice, to say the least.

Their cases were never more than they could handle, which was a nice change from her previous work with Fittes. Eden had fallen into a routine with both Anthony and George, though the latter still seemed less than pleased at her joining the agency. She found that she was bonding best with Anthony, though there was still so much about him that she didn't know. Even several months after hiring her, he had hardly divulged any personal information, such as how he acquired the townhome and what was behind that door on the second landing.

Then again, she hadn't divulged much of anything else about her time at Fittes or her close relationship with the Penelope Fittes. She supposed the longer they kept things from each other, it would cause issues, but she chose to live in a blissfully ignorant world until then.

Anthony was the sweetest of enigmas to her. From the moment they met, he had shown nothing but absolute faith in her. She found herself settling into easiest routine with him, if she were honest. On nights that weren't plagued by a job, Anthony would typically retreat to the library, just as George had told her on her first night there. Within a few weeks, Eden had begun to join him. He would usually read or look over case files, whereas Eden would draw.

It wasn't hard to tell that Anthony had found her addition as something he quite liked, even if he didn't outright say it. He didn't need to. And it did nothing to quell the obvious nerves that flooded Eden's stomach anytime that he was near her.

That night was no different. She was curled up in one of the armchairs in the library, the fire crackling brightly. Nestled in her lap was her sketchbook, her pack of colored pencils balancing on the arm of the chair. She had a lead pencil in her hand, tracing a design.

The page was covered in small, intricate sketches of a small, light flower that appeared to be incredibly, tiny daisies. In the center, she was finishing drawing a beautiful ring. If the ring were real, it seemed to her that it would be expensive, for there were slots for a row of precious stones to adorn the top, separated by diamonds. She tilted her head as she looked over her work, trying to figure out why she had drawn it in the first place. She'd never seen a ring like it, nor did she think she'd ever have the liberty to. She was also quite confused on why she would draw daisies—they weren't even her favorite flower.

The door to the library creaked open and as Eden turned her head, she saw Anthony walk in. His tie was loose, the top buttons of his dress shirt undone, and Eden drew her eyes away as they met hers. She didn't want him to catch her staring for too long—that would just make things awkward.

She turned back to her work, but was well aware of Anthony as he moved toward her chair. She held her breath as he drew nearer and then, there was an object being thrust into her line of sight. When her eyes focused on it, she knit her brow as she noticed it was a small, cardboard box. The inscription on it declared it to be a box of colored pencils—new, and not the small sharpened down nubs that she had been working with for the last few months.