Retracting the hand from the handshake, Daniel let the silver-eyed snow white enter in between them.
"Which floor" his voice was monotonous but his face was anything but.
"24th" an equally monotonous reply came from the silver-eyed snow white.
Daniel pressed the 24th button. The elevator was silent all throughout the next five floors till it reached the 15th when it opened.
Daniel cast a glance at the lady, who seemed to have no intention of getting off. Daniel pressed the close button and the elevator took off again.
So she was here just to meet him. When the twin doors opened it revealed Daniel's condo. Gesturing to the lady to get off first, Daniel followed suit, casting one last glance at the silver-eyed snow white.
He opened the door with a simple passcode of five digits. Click, and the door opened.
Daniel opened the door for the lady to enter. She was looking around, a little hesitance in her eyes.
"Do you not need my help anymore?" Daniel asked, bringing the lady out of her thoughts, to make her remember what she was here for, to remind her of her purpose of visiting him.
She jerked inside the place and Daniel soundly closed the door. Pointing to the couch, Daniel offered "Do take a seat"
She slowly, carefully sat down. The couch made a quack sound, which resounded in the entire place.
A whistle blew, signaling that the water had finished boiling. Crouching down Daniel fetched a wooden box.
"Tea or coffee" his voice, for the second time today brought her out of her thoughts.
"Chamomile" was her shaky reply.
Daniel nodded his head in satisfaction. Chamomile had a soothing effect. He opened the wooden box containing multiple types of tea bags, removing the upper layer, Daniel picked up a chamomile tea bag and dipped it inside a cup of piping hot water. The tea soon released it's aroma, lightly making the house smell like it. From his left, Daniel took the coffee machine and poured it into his bag mug. Adding some cream and two sugar cubes, Daniel picked the two cups and handed the tea to her. He had yet to know her name.
Daniel smelled the sweet coffee, taking a sip; he appreciated the taste.
"How can I help you, miss...."
"Mrs. Donalds"
"Yes, Mrs. Donalds, how can I assist you"
Mrs. Donalds took a long sip, almost finishing the tea in one go.
"I need you to find me this" she took out an old photo of a mirror.
"This is an old family heirloom. It was passed down from generations to generations in the Richard household but during the moving from London to New York, it was lost"
Daniel smirked, it was indeed a family heirloom "Was the mirror the only thing missing?"
"Yes"
Daniel's eyes held mirth at her strange words. The family heirloom she claimed she was looking for was never of the Richards'. It was the mirror new brides would get from the Starlings family. The mirror never belonged to the Richards.
"Who sent you to me" his question must not have been one she was expecting. A flash of surprise crossed her emerald eyes.
She nervously smiled, causing the dimple on her cheek to appear again "Benton recommended you, he said you're good at these kinds of things"
"That I am" Daniel mused "but do remind me when did Richards, the ones with the fabrics store in London; do correct me if I am wrong, got hold of the royal mirror that the Victorian Queen herself gifted to the royal musician Mark Starling."
Mrs. Donalds sharply looked up at him almost tipping over the bit of tea inside the cup.
This time she quietly took out another old picture from her purple purse. This picture also containing the photograph of a mirror.
Daniel's eyes twitched in annoyance. So this woman was testing him.
"I want you to find me this mirror"
Daniel's eyes twitched again "This is a lost treasure from the fifteenth century, Who knows if it still exists"
Mrs. Donalds glared at Daniel "It still exists, I can still feel it"
Daniel was puzzled.
"This mirror was used to curse the women of our family. Every time women from this family fell in love, within two to ten years her lover would die for one reason or another. It has already been eight years since my marriage." Her last words a mere whisper.
"So why did you wait so long to find it?"
"Much like everyone else, I thought this was just a fairytale used to scare us as children"
"So what happened that made you change your mind"
"It started a few weeks ago when my husband who was healthy as a horse suddenly started having fainting spells. He cannot eat anything and is always in a state of distress"
"And what makes you think this is connected to the course of the mirror?" Daniel asked, trying to connect the dots in his head.
Her calm face now distorted " I had the dream, the same dream every one of my ancestors had before they lost their loved ones"
"And so to save your husband you want me to find the cursed mirror, and destroy it as soon as possible" Daniel completed her sentence.
Mrs. Donalds nodded, raising her head, her eyes were red now but her face filled with stubbornness. " the sooner the better. I'll pay you anything, just destroy it before it destroys my husband" her eyes shedding tears.
Daniel sighed. He did have a soft spot for the ones that didn't give in. This must be why Benton sent her to him.
After another long sigh, Daniel replied "I can try my best but this is still a very old treasure finding it at least will take up to a few weeks"
"Weeks?" She jerked up from the couch, her eyes turning frantic "but I don't have weeks, my husband doesn't have weeks, but Benton said....but he said...but..."
Daniel put a hand on her shoulder carefully "I-I'm going to try and see what I can do. I call up all of my contacts. There's no way it won't turn up. I can't make promises but I will try my best". She stopped crying now.
She quickly pulled out a business card handing it to him before leaving the house as fast as she came.