Chapter One: 221B Baker StreetA Chapter by astoundinglyattractive
I woke up late the following morning, at about ten
thirty. I was able to shower and groom myself and by eleven fifteen I was
having my coffee and checking my e-mail. The cab I had called would be there in
five to ten minutes, so I had time to get a bit of work done. Three messages
from the therapist I had stopped going to, which I ignored, eleven spam
messages asking me to buy products, which I deleted, and two messages that
looked worth my time. The first I opened was from Stamford, offering a lunch
the following week and I replied with an affirmative. The second, however, was
from my brother. I had felt compelled at first to ignore it but eventually
chose against doing so. At first, it seemed to be a basic check-up on me that
mother had been having him do, but I soon found that this was not routine. In
the e-mail he oh-so-delicately laid out that our father had fallen ill and had
been diagnosed with only three months to live. An incurable disease, one the
doctors had never seen before. I knew at this news I should be upset in some
way, but my father and I had had a poor relationship- at least, that is, in my
eyes. I found myself upon the revelation facing no sorrow, and not feeling
upset in the least. I deleted the e-mail without replying and quickly left the flat
to wait outside for my cab. It pulled up within two minutes and I directed the cabbie
to 221B Baker Street. My watch narrated that I was five minutes early as I paid
and stepped out, but Sherlock was already there, leaning coolly against the
door and having a cigarette. “Looks like we are both early,” I said as I
approached her. She was dressed similarly as the day before, but the shorts had
become dark jeans and the yellow polo a light green one. She still lacked
footwear and was covered by the oversized lab coat. Upon my presence, she
extinguished her cigarette and extended a hand. “Good afternoon, Doctor Watson.” I had pondered it the
night before, and I figured Mike must have mentioned me before he had left to
the coffee shop, and she merely assumed that I was the “John Watson” he spoke
of- that was the most practical and obvious of solutions. It was still rather
disturbing though, that she had known so much about me and my intentions
without being told. I hoped she would enlighten me on how she managed to know
what she did. I shook her hand in greeting and smiled. “John, please.
No need to be formal.” “John, then. And you- quite obviously- may call me
Sherlock. On your previous comment, I am already here because I moved in three
weeks ago. Now, allow me to show you inside.” She promptly turned and led the way through the door and
up a flight of stairs into the flat. It was surprisingly contemporary and
spacious. The sitting room was large and had two huge windows on the far wall.
There was a grey stone fireplace, separating two plush chairs. There was a
small sofa, an ovular coffee table, a cluttered desk with an armchair, and
shelves lining one full wall. The other was covered with maps and pictures, and
below them were three stacks of cardboard boxes. There was a black wood piano-
all the furniture, in fact, was a sleek black- in the corner of the room. There
were other instrument cases in its company along with stacks of sheet music. A large archway separated the kitchen from the sitting
room, exposing a very messy dining table. There were beakers, files, and
scientific looking equipment covering the surface of it while the counters were
relatively bare. I walked slowly across the sitting room and peered down the
hallway, seeing three closed doors, which I figured to be two bedrooms and a
bathroom. Returning to my host, I gave her a nod of approval. “It’s a nice
flat. Very nice, very spacious.” She smiled proudly as, to my surprise, a woman of about
sixty stumbled into the flat carrying a tray with tea and biscuits. “Scarlett!”
She scolded, looking at Sherlock, “you didn’t tell me your guest had arrived! I
would have been done sooner if I had known.” She scurried over to the coffee
table and set down the tray, wiping her hands on her skirt and coming over to
greet us. “Hello,” she greeted sweetly, offering a thin hand, which
I readily shook, “nice to meet you. I am Martha Hudson, the landlady here. I’m
so sorry if Scarlett has been rude.” “No, not at all!” I looked pointedly at Sherlock out of the
corner of my eye, and my gaze quite obviously was asking the question as to why
the landlady called her Scarlett. Sherlock smiled and answered my question, wrapping her
arm over Mrs. Hudson’s shoulder in a sort of an embrace. “I have known Mrs.
Hudson since I was a child; she is a dear friend of my mothers. She has been
gracious enough to allow me to stay here cheaply until I managed to find a
flatmate.” “That’s very kind of you.” I smiled kindly at the woman,
and gave her a nod of gratitude, “It really is a pleasure to meet you.” “No, the pleasure is all mine! I’m just glad Scarlett has
finally found a man to take care of her.” “Oh, um, no,” I protested with a cough, “we’re not… We’re
not together, or anything. I mean. We’re not, we aren’t dating.” I must have
looked like a bumbling fool, a habit I seemed to be prone to. “Oh, that’s fine then,” Mrs. Hudson said, obviously
embarrassed by her mistake, “my apologies.” “It’s fine, Mrs. Hudson,” Sherlock said kindly. She had a
sort of tenderness when it came to this woman, a somewhat protective instinct.
The way she looked at her and held her arm over her shoulder was so gentle, it
made me wonder if she had seen this woman as more of a mother figure than her
own mother. “We’re not offended in the least.” Mrs. Hudson turned towards her sternly, “You do need to
find a man though. A strong, compassionate man to tie you down and keep you
safe. You’re too reckless, Scarlett- I really wish you would settle down,
darling.” She then turned to me, slightly confused, “And you, mister…?” “Watson,” I offered, “Doctor John Watson.” “Do you have a woman, Doctor Watson?” “No ma’am, I do not.” I smiled earnestly at her, “I just
recently returned to London and haven’t yet had time to settle down, and
please, just call me John.” “Oh, that’s splendid! Where have you been, then, out of
town?” I cleared my throat and my hand rose involuntarily to
rest upon the texture of my dogtags, tucked neatly under my shirt. I could see
Sherlock smirking by Mrs. Hudson’s side as I proceeded to answer. “Well, I have
been in Afghanistan, in the RAMC.” “Oh…” Mrs. Hudson sighed sullenly, her face falling, “I
see. Well, erm, I’m glad you’re here now. It would be a pleasure to serve as
your landlady.” “And it would be a pleasure to stay here, if you will
have me. I am pleasantly surprised- this is a very nice flat. If acceptable
with the two of you, I would like to move in here- possibly today? I would like
to get out of that horrid hotel sooner rather than later.” Sherlock nodded as Mrs. Hudson shooed me out and
encouraged me to hurry back quickly. In the cab ride back to the hotel, I found
myself pondering that interaction. That they would both so readily except me,
after only just meeting me, was astonishing. I figured they might want me over
a few times for tea, or get to know me a bit before simply allowing me to move
into the flat- in fact, they knew nothing about me, nothing at all! For all
they knew, I could be some deranged lunatic, or a scammer, or a government spy.
Of course, of those things I was none, but I still found the events that had
transpired quite peculiar. Back in the hotel, I had very few things. One small box
of possessions and an oversized suitcase stuffed with clothes- everything else
was with Henry, and I certainly was not going to make that visit. I was still
mulling over how I was to obtain the rest of my things upon my return to Baker
Street, and my head remained clouded as I stumbled up the flight of stairs with
my possessions. I found myself, upon my entrance into the flat, completely
alone. I set the box and suitcase on the couch and went about the chore of
finding my flatmate or the landlady. The sitting room was empty, and there was
no-one in the kitchen, so I ventured into the hallway, feeling like an unwelcome
trespasser, an intruder. This flat really wasn’t mine, and I wouldn’t feel at
home for a while, of that I was sure. Just as I was coming upon the first door, I heard
footsteps in the hall behind me and spun around. It, of course, was only the
landlady. “Oh, Mrs. Hudson. Nice to see you. I was just looking for Sherlock,
do you know where she-” “Yes, yes, she is in her room. Don’t ever disturb
Sherlock when she is in her room, it’s simply a poor idea. Oh, how I wish she
spent less time secluded like that- she never lets anyone in there, won’t even
let me tidy up for her. I haven’t been in there once since she moved in, she
put a lock in the door and nobody can get in for she has the only key. I’m very
worried that she might hurt herself during one of her experiments and no-one
would be able to-” While I had been respectfully listening to her monologue,
I felt a need to interject. “Mrs. Hudson,” I said, looking her in the eye. She paused and shook her head to clear it. “Oh, yes. I’m
sorry. Please call me Martha. Your room is right over here.” She scurried down
the hall to the second door and opened it for me, “here you go. That first door
is the bathroom; the one at the end of the hall is Scarlett’s. Now I have
somewhere to be, I’m really sorry, but I must be off. Nice to have you John!” I barely got to thank her before she was off, down the
hall and out of the flat. She really did seem to be in a hurry, I mused. After
I had transported my few possessions from the spot on the couch into my room, I
returned to the sitting room and sat in the chair farthest from the window with
my laptop and opened it in my lap. Logging in, I moused over to Microsoft word
and selected a new document, watching the little line flash on the empty page
for a few moments before sighing and shutting it down with a huff. My dream of writing a novel was hopeless. After all these
years, I still had no muse. -- The next week passed rather monotonously. I made the
visit to Henry’s and was bullied into setting up plans to go to France in two
months to see our family- a chore I was not looking forward to. The day’s
consisted mostly of my setting up of my things and becoming acquainted with the
flat in general. The more time I sat silently in the sitting room across from
Sherlock, the more strange she struck me. She would type endlessly away at her
laptop for hours on end, about God knows what. When she wasn’t typing, she was
reading, smoking, or in the lab with Mike. She never had friends come over or,
to my knowledge, went out with any. Sherlock Holmes lived a very secluded life.
Not only that, but she refrained from any conversation for the most part. We
would sit in the same room for hours without exchanging a single word, and
after a spell she would just silently rise and return to her bedroom as if I
had never been there. There were a few times, however, when I would draw her
into a brief conversation. The second day I was in the flat, I remember moving
to the cupboards to find something to eat- and finding to my amazement that there
was nothing to eat. Well, let me rephrase. There was nothing real to eat.
Crisps, gummy bears, chocolate, cookies, cupcakes, boxed and processed junk
foods- in the fridge and cupboards, there was unhealthy junk, and the freezer
was stocked with Butter Pecan, Strawberry, Chocolate, and Moose Tracks ice
cream. I had walked back into the living room and just stared at her.
“Sherlock.” She, of course, was immersed in whatever she was doing on
her laptop. “Sherlock.” “Hm?” she mumbled absently without looking up from her
work. “Is there any food in this house?” “Cupboards, fridge. Ice cream is in the freezer. Don’t
eat the strawberry.” “No, Sherlock, I mean real food.” At that, she raised her head to stare at me. “Real fo-
No. I know some good restaurants, if you wish for a suggestion. If you want
something I don’t have, you’ll have to buy it yourself.” I shook my head unbelievingly as she turned back to her
work and I returned to my seat facing her, still hungry. “Sherlock.” “What now?” “I have another question.” “Undoubtedly.” I stared at her for a moment. She was very
blunt when she spoke. I couldn’t quite come to a decision on whether it was an
attractive or annoying trait. “Yes, well, the other day. When we first met. Well, you
knew some stuff about me that you shouldn’t have known, and I was just curious.
I mean, I was curious to how you knew my name, and that I was an Afghan army
doctor, and how I was searching for a flat mate- in fact I had been talking
about it with Mike that very day.” “I know.” “Well, yes. Obviously. I just want to know how.” Sherlock shut her laptop looking slightly irate, and set
it down on the coffee table in front of her. She folded her legs up onto the
chair and stared at me a moment, fingers steepled beneath her chin. “Asking me
to explain myself is like asking someone how to move their fingers.” “I don’t understand.” “Of course not. What I read from people comes naturally,
a habit or an instinct, you decide. But it’s not something I think about. It is
a part of me, and asking me how I read something off you would be like asking
me how I moved a limb. I don’t know.” “Oh please, surely you must.” “Well, yes, if you give me a moment.” She sat there in that odd position for a few minutes,
staring off into space. Her posture really was impeccable, something admirable
to even a military man such as myself. “Do you wish for me to tell you everything I read, or
just the main and relevant points.” I gave one sharp, determined nod. “Everything.” I could
have been imagining it, but I swore that a smile was dancing upon the edges of
her lips upon my quick reply. “I will start from the beginning. You are approximately six
feet in height. You wear light, plain clothing but carry yourself with
confidence. Your posture is that of a military man, and your hair is kept neat
and short. When you first walked in, I heard only your voice- firm and sharp.
You got straight to the point and were very sure in your disposition. Before I
even saw you I pegged you as a doctor, due to your conversation as you entered
the room. You and Mike were discussing recent changes to the building. Doctor.
When I noticed the tan line out of the corner of my eye, it was undeniably
obvious. Everything about you screamed military doctor- not to mention the
presence of the faint indent of your dogtags beneath your shirt. Also, you took
your coffee black and carried it in your right hand even though you’re left
handed. Now, the name and desire for a flatmate came simultaneously. I had already
observed all this from you, and was aware that your last name was Watson, due
to a mention of you by Mike. Now, the name Watson seemed strangely familiar to
me, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. It struck me when you said, I quote,
‘Sherlock… Holmes? Why, that’s a man’s name! Is this some sort of sick prank
Mike has put you up to?’ and then, upon my response, ‘Your parents then, gave
you a man’s name?’” Sherlock stopped talking momentarily and hopped out of
her chair, moving over to the desk and fishing through a pile of newspapers
before drawing one near the bottom of the pile out. She tossed it lazily at me
as she resumed her former position on the chair. “… every wounded soldier made it out alive that day due
to the valiant acts of six extraordinary individuals: Steven Willis, Matthew
Scott, Alex Rayne, Leo Mason, Arthur Smith, and,” she stated in a mocking
monotone, “John Watson. These men not only made multiple trips between the base
and a safe zone on foot, carrying the men, but they were also able to preserve
vital information that could not fall into enemy hands. In this fiasco, two of
the men, Matthew Scott and John Watson, were injured. Both have made a full
recovery, however, and have continued their respective lives in our great city
of London.” She stared at me pointedly for a moment before
continuing- I was just surprised she had memorized the article, word for word.
“I had read that article two and a half weeks ago. Apparently the gap between
government and the media was larger than I thought. I’ll have to keep that in
mind. You, of course, would be curious on how I knew you were looking for a
flatmate. That was the easiest, after all, since I had already gained all the
facts. Injured war veteran, obviously unemployed, of course you are looking for
a flatmate! And I was aware my name had been mentioned due to a complaint that
morning to your friend Michael, and the fact you were so stuck on my being a
man. It seemed that you were expecting and even relying upon my gender being
male. Therefore, I had been mentioned as a possible suitor for a flatmate. I
really don’t see the problem, but you have been noticeably uncomfortable these
past two days. Undoubtedly it is because you feel some sort of a sexual
admiration towards me.” This last bit she added absently as she reopened he
laptop on her lap and resumed the previous typing. I remained silent and awed for a second. That she had
been able to read so much off me, learn so much, without hardly a word from my
mouth… Amazing. Brilliant. Simply brilliant. She was wrong on just one point,
of that entire deduction she got just one thing wrong. After another moment, I
spoke. “Six foot one.” “Whatever you say,” she mumbled, waving me off lapsing
into complete silence for the rest of the day. Our exchanges went on in this fashion. I would ask
questions and she would grill me. It was interesting, yes, and I learned a lot
I would never use, but got to be a little annoying. You could not have a
regular conversation with Sherlock Holmes. She was too blunt, too withdrawn,
and too critical. It got to the point where for most of the second week I spent
my time out with friends or in my room searching for a muse. At the closing of the second week, however, I found
myself sitting in my chair, watching the rain pour heavily outside. Even for
London, the storm was a bit too much- despite the fact that it was midday, the
sky was clouded over and black as night. A fire was crackling, and Sherlock was
sitting across from me reading a book. I noticed something odd, though, about
the cover of the book. I couldn’t understand it. “That’s in German.” “Yes.” “You speak German?” “Natürlich.” “Was that German, then?” “Yes.” During this exchange she did not look up from her book-
something I had found exceedingly irritating throughout the two weeks I had
known her. She never paid her full attention to anything, save her experiments. “How do you know German?” “My father taught me.” “So he was German.” “Yes.” “So you’re German.” Finally, she marked her book and set it to the side in
exasperation. “My father was the German Ambassador to Britain, and my mother
the only daughter of a wealthy businessman here in London. Satisfied?” “No. Your skin is much too dark to be German and English-
at least as a Londoner.” I felt proud of myself for this observation. Maybe she
was starting to wear off on me. Then again… “Oh!” she stated with sarcastic surprise, leaning back in
her chair and clapping her hands slowly and purposefully. “I applaud you. What
a sound, in depth observation!” “Fine. What is it then.” “Five weeks ago I returned from a three month long
archeological dig in South America. Peru. My skin would naturally have tanned
during that time. If it is any condolence to you, within the next two or three
months, my skin should fade back to it’s natural colour.” “Oh.” “Done?” “Um. Yes.” I honestly felt a little stupid as she pointedly resumed
reading. It should have been obvious that she had been on holiday. Now that I
looked at it, she even had tan lines. Being in the presence of Sherlock Holmes
really makes one feel idiotic, something I have learned over time to be arguably
true. Over the next hour, I began to dose off- that is, until I was awakened by
the bell. “Sherlock. Was that the bell?” “Yes.” “Well I have no one invited. Could it be one of your
friends?” “I have none.” “Oh…” I, mean, I guess I had known that. She didn’t seem
like the type of person to hang out, and I had yet to hear her talk about
anyone. But no friends at all? I found that rather sad. “Who, then, could it
be?” Silence. By this point I didn’t even try to draw her attention
away from the book. I just wanted her to answer my question, that was all I
asked. “Why would anyone be out on a day like today?” “I’m sure it’s just a friend of Mrs. Hudson’s.” That made sense. I listened as the door opened downstairs
and I heard conversation. The voice I heard definitely belong to a man, though
the words he was saying were not clear from downstairs. After a minute or two,
however, I heard the faint sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs. “I do not encourage visitors,” Sherlock called archly,
eye’s on her book. The footsteps stopped momentarily, but continued after a
second. I just stared at her, my jaw hanging open. How could she be so rude
when she didn’t even know who it was? “Close, your mouth John, we have a guest.” Just as she said this, a man walked into the room. He was
approximately six feet tall, and was slightly heavy set- I was unsure whether
it was muscle of fat, though, that made up his bulk. He wore a soaked coat and
hat, which he hung promptly on the rack without a word. His dress was slightly
formal, like that of a man who had traveled straight from work. He wore pleated
khaki pants and a tucked in collared shirt, and he looked well groomed in
general. “How are you, Sherlock,” said he, a bit bluntly. There
was an odd sort of tension between them as Sherlock kept her eye’s level on the
page she was reading, and the mans on her. “Just stopping by to check in on you. Offer you back your
position on the force. Twenty percent pay increase. Your own office… please. We
are willing to negotiate. We’ve gone up since last time. We just need you
back.” My eye’s literally bulged out of my head. A twenty
percent raise? I didn’t care what the job was, I would have taken it then and
there. I could have been shoveling cow manure, for all I cared- twenty percent
was a lot of money. But, of course, this was Sherlock we are talking about. “No.” “Sherlock, please, this isn’t-” his voice sounded almost
pleading. I couldn’t help but wonder what this all could possibly be about. I
hadn’t the faintest. “Chief Constable Gregson, while it is an honour to have
you visit me, I would have to request that you leave. As you can see, my friend
and I are quite busy.” I found myself slightly taken aback. This man was the
Chief Constable of the Scotland Yard? What was he doing talking to Sherlock then?
As he looked between the two of us and our obviously lack of anything “busy,”
he gave an exasperated sigh. “Please at least consider it, Sherlock. Good day,
sir.” “Good day, Chief Constable.” With that the man took up
his coat and hat, and headed back into the storm. After a moment of silence I spoke. “You knew it was him,
didn’t you. When you called out that you did not encourage visitors?” “Yes.” “Okay.” I fell silent for a moment, reflecting on the interaction
that had just occurred. “So what did he want?” “Me back on the force.” “Ah.” She continued to read as the fire started to die
down. I moved to turn it u, as it was starting to get a bit chilly. “You worked
for the Scotland yard, then.” “Yes.” “And you aren’t there anymore because…?” “I quit.” “Ah.” Back in my seat, I picked
up the paper I hadn’t finished reading that morning. Of course, my curiosity
would not allow me to concentrate. And, while I felt slightly foolish, I
continued to inquire further into this little Scotland Yard mystery. “So, then,
why did you quit?” I looked up to meet an intense glare from over her book.
“Because,” she growled, “the police force is incompetent, they don’t know how
to work together, it’s half politics, and, frankly, they’re all idiots. Tobias
there is decent. In fact, he was actually acceptable as a Detective Constable.
But he took the job as Chief Constable, and the politics have made him
absolutely intolerable. The entire system is flawed. I couldn’t work there, so
I quit to focus on science. I had the opportunity to go on an archeological
dig, but came back early because Michael had a breakthrough in the study, and I
wanted to work on it. Tobias seems to think that gives him right to harass me
into rejoining the met. And that, frankly, will never happen.” “I see.” She stood abruptly and took up her book and laptop in her
arms. “I will be retiring for the evening. Good night.” I checked my watch. “It is only three twenty six…” “Good night John.” “Good Night Sherlock.” As I heard a door shut down the hall, I tugged my laptop
onto my lap and logged in, getting the password wrong the first try. Opening a
word document, I compiled a list. It read as such: {Sherlock Holmes Flaws: -Blunt; Rude; Socially inept Perks: -Attractive; Intelligent; Resourceful Habits: -Eats only junk food; reads excessively, either German,
or nonfiction; likes to show off; observes traits in people; uses laptop
excessively (not sure for what); spends a lot of time locked up in her room
(not sure what she’s doing); goes on long walks through the city; doesn’t wear
shoes (not sure why) Skill Set: -Knowledge of Literature- none -Knowledge of Philosophy- none -Knowledge of Politics- only
what’s in the papers -Knowledge of Botany- decent. Knows
about drugs and poisons, but not gardening -Knowledge of Geology- seems
to know about different types of soil, but other areas of geology suffer. Her
knowledge is limited, but strong. -Knowledge of Chemistry-
Exceedingly in depth. Her knowledge is profound and amazing in this field. She
knows elements by their molecular setup and can tell you the type of reaction
different elements or materials would have to each other simply by name. -Musically inclined, plays violin,
piano, flute, and guitar- while I have not been witness to this yet, she claims
to be skilled. -Knows British Law, was in
Scotland Yard -to be continued-} I typed this out and saved it
under an unrelated name, password protecting the document and the folder it was
in. Sherlock Holmes might make good inspiration for a character someday. I
didn’t want to risk somebody stealing my characters before I even had my muse.
I figured, too, I could add more to her profile as I learned more about her.
After all, it had only been two weeks. Who knows what mysteries this girl was
keeping concealed that I might later uncover. I could only hope that she would
make an adequate lead character. Living at 221B Baker Street,
so far, had proven to be slightly productive. © 2012 astoundinglyattractiveAuthor's Note
Reviews
|
StatsAuthorastoundinglyattractiveSix Feet Under, OHAboutName: Elisa Age: 16 Gender: Female Height: 5'6" Country: America Sexuality: I like to consider myself a freelancer. Personality: I used to have one, but I think I lost it somewhere. I enjoy: d.. more..Writing
|