A fragrance entered my nostrils, carrying with it the scent of flowers, honey and hot water.
I took up the cup of tea slowly taking a sip from it, trying to avoid burning my tongue. The moment I did so I was able to quickly ascertain one thing.
"It's bitter."
I overdid it with the lemon.
I slowly turned around in my chair, vintage by most measures.
Standing up I looked around the room.
Wooden flooring, nice calming walls, a large window beyond it some street lights shinning through the night sky.
I move around the room as I arrive before a vinyl player, putting in the record and starting it up.
The room is instantly filled with the sound of classical music.
Returning to my chair, I look towards the table. There sitting next to the still steaming tea was a lone notebook accompanied by a pen.
Opening it up, the contents are revealed to me, pages upon pages of questions.
Looking at one of the many questions I smirk, not at the question itself, but the naivety of my past self.
'What's my name?' was the question writen there. An unusual question, but one that made perfect sense for where I was back then.
Still back then I had clearly underestimated just how desperate my situation really was.
Name? Pffft forget about it. Even the personality I wanted to put together seemed like too much of a challenge. Still this experience wasn't completely useless, it gave me a valuable lesson.
Acceptance.
Accepting my current situation and learning how to live with the cards I was dealt.
In the end things became better, atleast mentally I didn't feel as trapped as I did before.
I slowly close the book, trying to turn my eyes away from the truth just even for another second.
Thinking of a way to distract myself, I look towards the teacup.
The steam has stopped flowing, meaning that the tea was now at a not too hot, but simply warm state.
I moved the cup towards my mouth taking a sip before being reminded of why I've put it to the side in the first place.
"It's still bitter."
I move my hand to open one of the nearby drawers. As it opens its contents are slowly revealed.
In it were a large quantity of cubed brown sugar.
I picked up one of the cubes before dropping it into the cup.
It didn't take long for the sugar to dissolve becoming one with the tea.
I went in to take another sip and... perfect.
The tea was now perfect, in the end it seemed sugar was all it was lacking.
Sipping the tea at an even pace I layed back in the chair looking up at the dim light in the middle of the room.
There was only one thing to question: What was next?
I've started my business such a long time ago, yet it seemed I simply lacked the exposure I needed.
I was a failure as a detective, it wasn't even that I was bad at my job. I simply lacked popularity.
No clients!
Since the day I opened till today, not a single person has walked through these doors to request my services. Not. A. Single. One.
'Should I just give up on it?'
But that was simply not an option. I mean it wasn't a part of my character... giving up I mean. So I just have to keep going hoping thing would change eventually.
As these thoughts circled through my head I slowly got up from my nice antique chair and slowly approached the window that showed the outside world.
Looking out another thought surfaced in this mind of mine.
'Maybe I wasn't the problem. Right! It had to be...'
'The location!'
I mean look outside for a moment, not a single soul no matter where I look. The place is basically a ghost town.
It would be a miracle in many ways if anyone came to such a hidden place. And even if they did would they really look for detective?
'I should look into changing my offices to a busier street, maybe then things would finally look up for me.'
Walking back to my seat I picked up the remainder of the tea and gulped in down in one fell swoop.
That was when I started doing something that was both out of character, but also very much something I would do.
I started dancing. Dancing to pleasing sound the vinyl was making.
I danced, danced like a madman, were there anyone to observe me in that moment they surely would have found my actions weird, disturbing even.
But there was no one else, so I just danced, danced to this indiscernible melody.
'What was it even, that I was doing here in the first place?'
Even a question such as that arose in me.
I mean I've been waiting for so long. So long for something to change... anything!
But nothing did. Always the same melody, the same tea, the same window, the same door.
Nothing changed.
And what did I do? Nothing!
I was just waiting. Waiting for something or someone to come and finally break this cicle of this never changing place.
The vinyl was suddenly cut off, the melody interrupted.
I simply fell to the floor, hitting it with all the strenght I could muster.
But in the end nothing.
No angry downstairs neighbour to shout at me, not even the pain that should have been there was there.
"I THOUGHT I HAVE GOTTEN BETTER!"
"BUT NO! I WAS MERELY ESCAPING AND ESCAPING AND ESCAPING, BUT EVEN MY FORM OF ESCAPE WAS NOTHING MORE THAN A PRISON OF MY OWN CREATION."
My face showed no emotion, it couldn't.
"Enough, I'm tired of this. I'll just have to try something else. This one clearly isn't it."
I slowly walked back to my chair and sat down in it.
I caressed it one last time appreciating it's expensive skin.
"Goodbye, detective office."
And just as I was about to wave my hand to put this place too among it's many discarded predecessors, a sound suddenly came.
I looked around to look for it's source, but I couldn't find it.
'Where did that come from?'
That was when the sound came once again this time louder, easier to discern.
*Knock*
It was a knock. A knock? In this place.
I was confused, did I miss something?
But then the sound came again this time, not by itself as it was accompanied by many other knocks.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
That was when it finally hit.
'THE DOOR!'
Soon I calmed myself down and using my deepest most professional voice I spoke up.
"Who is it?"
"..."
For a moment there was no reply, I thought maybe I was wrong and there really wasn't anything there, but then the reply came.
"...Umm, mister do you know where I am?"
What sort of question was that, how could you not know where you were.
Still something instantly jumped out to me. It was the voice itself.
'A kid?'
"Are you a lost child? Why don't you come in first, the door isn't locked."
Then the door knob moved and a small child of around seven came through.
'He's real!'
Soon as the child came in the two of us were finally face to face.
That was when the child spoke up once again.
"You look odd mister."
"I look odd?"
I wouldn't know as my room had no mirror to speak of as such my abilities of self observation were... yeah I couldn't see myself.
"What's so odd about me?"
"Your face!"
My face... I suppose I must look either breathtakingly handsome or the polar opposite.
"What's with my face?"
"That's the thing mister, I can't see it."
Wait a minute now, I have no face? Has my ability to create faces really became so poor.
"Aren't you scared?"
Hearing this the kid simply laughed.
"There is no way someone like me would be scared from something like that. It would be disrespectful to my name."
"Your name?"
Hearing me ask for his name the kid quickly hit a pose and proudly proclaimed his name.
"I'll only tell you once so listen well. My name is—"