Hustle & Bustle | Jacob Frye x OC

Chapter 1

Adelaide and myself arrived at kings cross station in the early afternoon.
"Right, Uncle Jeremiah should be..." Addy trailed off, searching for our Uncle in sea of churning Londoners.
The hustle and bustle of the city was a breath of smoggy, industrial air for me, it felt good to be in the heart of our country - within mere miles of her Majesty, Queen Victoria.

My sister and I split up, in search. I meandered through the crowd of people, sliding in between bustling bodies whilst scanning the platforms for our Uncle.

I bumped shoulders with someone, immediately apologising and looking to them to see if they were alright.Only, when I turned my head to face them - my eyes were greeted by a broad chest, realising that I had in fact bumped into a man. I kept my eyes low, not wanting to stir any trouble with the gentleman I had disturbed.
I felt a hand on my shoulder, I turned, once again, to see the same clothes that I had seen not one moment ago.
"Miss, do you need help? It's not safe here when you don't know where you're going." A deep voice spoke loudly so that I could hear him over the crowd. I looked up to see his face.

He had green eyes, with brown hair and sprinkling of stubble along his jaw and chin. A huddle of scars could be seen in his facial hair, along with one scar creating a slit through his eyebrow.
"Miss? Are you alright?" He chuckled, squeezing my shoulder slightly. Realising that I had been staring, I quickly snapped myself out of the trance so as not to scare the kind gentleman away.
"Oh, sorry - Have you seen a man about your height? With blonde hair - possibly a blue paisley jacket?" I asked, describing my Uncle to him.
"Yes I have. I'll take you to him." The gentleman replied.
"Thank you, Mr..?"
"Frye, Jacob Frye - And you are?"
"Britannia Edwards, call me Annie"
Jacob held his arm for me to take, and so I did.
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Jacob struck me as a dapper, kind young gentleman. However, the scars on his face told me otherwise - he'd seen his fair share of trouble, despite his young age. The scar through his eyebrow was a result of a fist fight no doubt, as for the ones on his jaw - those were the handiwork of a knife attack. A woman I am, but stupid I am not. The intriguing nature of Jacob Frye drew me in like a moth to a flame, perhaps there was a reason for that.
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"Ah! There he is" Jacob pointed the man whom I identified as my Uncle. I smiled, I turned to face Jacob - keeping my hand on his arm in a polite manner.
"Thank you, Jacob. I hope to see you again sometime." Mr Frye smiled at me and replied:
"My pleasure, Annie... oh, I'm sure you'll lay eyes on me again" He winked at me and took my hand before lifting it to his lips and placing a light kiss upon my knuckles. I felt my cheeks heat up as Jacob lightly dropped my hand and turned on his heel before sauntering off into the crowd.

I approached Uncle Jeremiah, seeing that my sister had already found him and was standing beside him.
"Uncle!" I called, he looked to me and smiled, I looked at my sister and she gave me a rather kowing look.
"Thank goodness you're here, c'mon the carriage is waiting."

We were ushered off into a fancily upholstered carriage, far more extravagant than the rickety old wagon from home that Addy and I were used to.
I gazed out of the small window as the carriage began to move, staring at the bustling streets of the city. There were children playing hopscotch in the alleyway, men strolling through the streets, women walking - arm in arm, to their favourite stalls through the markets of London town. "Your Aunt wants to take you shopping later, she's got some new frocks to pick as well" Uncle Jeremiah informed us, we smiled at him in response - nodding in acknowledgement too.
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I'd seen in newspapers, heard by word-of-mouth about the drama that went on in the Boroughs of London. I'd even found myself becoming something of a church bell, always gossiping about scandals and murders that happened. I loved the thrill of murder mystery, how I would so love to help or lend a hand in solving a London Murder case.