The Feelings of a Dominatrix

by The Dragon's Rose

Irene Adler; The Woman; The Whiphand. Immune to the sentiments of love, or so she claims. Upon hearing the news of the suicide of Sherlock Holmes, she drops in on each of the famed detective's friends and enemies. Her reason? To find who it was brought around the end of the brilliant man, and how many were affected by it.

The Headline

The dark-haired woman gasped at the headline. With her hand to her mouth she scanned the article. She stood up suddenly, nearly knocking her chair over and hurriedly made her way to the bathroom, pushing through the groups of people in the café.

She locked herself in one of the stalls and leant against the wall for support. Tears began fall, making tracks down her face and making her mascara run. Her shoulders shook and she clutched the newspaper to her chest. After a good few minutes she got her emotions under control.

She wiped her eyes and unlocked the door. Good for her, there was no one else in the bathroom. She put on a pair of sunglasses to hide her red-rimmed eyes. She walked back into the crowded café.

It surprised her how everyone else was laughing and joking, getting on with their lives, while she felt like she was going to die from the hole in her heart. She approached the counter, walking confidently with her head held high; not showing how much the article had shaken her. She handed the money over to the cashier, who looked at her strangely. He could see where her mascara had run. "You alright love?" he asked her. She nodded wordlessly. The cashier saw how tightly she gripped the newspaper. "You knew him then?" he asked, referring to the man whom the article was about. "Yes." she answered her voice hoarse. "What was he then, a lover? A friend?" the cashier handed her the change. She took a deep breath. "He was a friend, a good friend."

She caught a cab and headed back to her apartment. When she arrived, she flung the newspaper onto the coffee table and sat on the window-sill. She brought her knees up to her chest and buried her head in her hands. She could feel the tears coming and this time she didn't try to hold them back.

The newspaper lay where she had left it, its headline in bold "SUICIDE OF FAKE GENIUS" and Irene Adler wept because the one person she had ever cared about, Sherlock Holmes was dead.