Paint the Town Red (Fox & Oakby Murder Mysteries Book II)

Poke the Bear

Petra hopped out of her car and gleefully pranced to the front gate of the Oakby manor. Fellowes opened the door for her, Petra grinned widely and rushed inside. She'd been in his study before, so she didn't wait for the directions, causing the housekeeper's lips to press in a thin disapproving line.

Petra dashed through the door into his study, when poor Fellowes only started announcing their arrival.

"That'll be all, thank you, Fellowes," the Titan said, rising.

"Good afternoon," Petra greeted him.

"Dr. Nenadovich."

She plopped in the chair across his antique desk. He looked so very handsome in his usual three-piece suit: dark blue, with a greenish tie of a very elegant shade.

"Do you get your suits bespoke?" she asked, and he looked at her above his reading glasses.

"Pardon?"

"Your suits. I realised this morning I know nothing about posh suits." Petra threw one leg over another and dangled her foot. "I called your secretary, you see. And he said you'd be alright meeting here, not in your office in Abernathy, which I thought was interesting but we'll discuss it later." She flailed her hand in the air, making a mental note to inquire into this increased level of intimacy in their meetings. "And then I thought, 'I wonder if he'll wear a suit,' because you see no matter how posh your house is, wouldn't it make sense to still wear something comfortable? And then I wondered where a suit for a man like you comes from. Because you see, it's like a kangaroo to me."

Petra ran out of oxygen and inhaled sharply. The glacial eyes of the Titan remained calm and focused on her. Petra noted two fascinating points. Firstly, she didn't feel at all uncomfortable under his gaze. Secondly, he still hadn't said 'Do you have a point, Dr. Nenadovich?'

Also, she seemed to be distracted - and now she didn't remember what she was saying. Was she distracted by how long and thick his lashes were? Perhaps. And what, in the name of all deities was she talking about just now?

"You said my suit is a kangaroo," the Titan reminded her politely; and Petra startled.

Surely, he couldn't read minds. Although, he was... him. At least not her mind, she'd assume. One would need endless patience and an equally chatty mind to even try.

"Right!" she exclaimed and nodded jerkily. "A kangaroo, you see... You don't think about kangaroos every day. But then someone says something, or there's Earth on telly - and I simply love Attenborough's intonations - and you start wondering. I don't know much about them, and they usually tell you just a thing or two about them in those documentaries, but you start wondering about all sorts of things, like how they sleep and if there are different kinds."

Shockingly, he still hadn't barked 'Push off!' either. Petra looked down at her ballerina pump that was now hanging on her toes, having almost fallen off due to Petra's energetic foot dangling.

"And then I google, of course," Petra finally found her way back to the initial thought. "Not kangaroos, obviously. Suits. It's a whole different world! And it's all so specific but also creative. And who knew?" She almost clapped her hands in delight. "There's this Edward Sexton, and somehow 'bold, wide' lapels are his signature move, and who'd think it matters? But also it's art, you see. All fashion is, and in this case it's an ancient art too, but also elitist and macho, which shouldn't be exciting, but blimey, it is! So the question is, is your suit bespoke?"

Petra might have been wrong but it seemed that the right corner of the Titan's lips twitched in a suppressed smile.

"It is."