It was one o'clock in the morning, and, after two hours of lying in bed, I still hadn't managed to fall asleep. I sat up and stayed completely silent as I listened closely to the house and looked around the bedroom, wondering if I was sensing any danger. There was nothing; no noise, no shadowed figures. The house was still and empty, except for myself and whatever staff that remained. I laid down again, my hands splayed against my stomach, wondering what to do. It wasn't long before I was sat up again, and reaching out to turn my bedside lamp on, I took my phone from the tables beside me and scrolled through my, admittedly limited, contacts. My parents were immediately dismissed as an option, as was Sherlock. If I'd wanted to talk to Anthea I could have simply gone to find her. I came across Jennifer's name. We hadn't been... seeing each other for long, just over a month, and I'd only called once, though I had seen her face-to-face many a time, and texted every so often. I decided to call her - besides, we hadn't seen each other, or spoken, for several days. I stood up and put a suit jacket on over my bare arms and torso, before calling Jennifer and making my way to the library. She answered just before I got to the door.
"Mycroft," she said, groggily. "What is it? Why've you called?"
I'd obviously woken her up, and I felt a little guilty. I sat in one of the chairs.
"I..." I started, hesitating to tell her the truth, as I crossed one leg over the other. "I couldn't sleep, and you were you only person I wanted to call."
"Okay, well..." Jennifer replied, before yawning.
"We don't have to talk. You're clearly tired." I told her.
"No, no, I'm awake now," she insisted. "Besides, you can't sleep, so that gives me motivation!"
I chuckled.
"So... have you done anything you can tell me about?" Jennifer asked.
"Meetings," I told her. "The subjects of which are confidential."
"Ah." she said.
"What about you?" I asked. "What have you been up to?"
"We got a case, finally," Jennifer told me. "Thank god; I think Sherlock would've gone mad if we hadn't!"
"I wouldn't have been surprised," I replied, smiling. "What was it?"
I listened as she explained, although it wasn't her words that I was paying attention to; it was her voice I was more interested in. When Jennifer fell silent, I realized that she'd asked a question.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I asked.
She laughed, and I suddenly felt self-conscious.
"I asked if you had any plans to meet for lunch or something." she repeated.
"Ah right," I said. "No, no, I haven't. Have you?"
"No, but we'll figure something out." she told me.
"We will." I agreed.
We were both silent.
"I love you." Jennifer told me.
"I love you too," I replied after a moment. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight. Sleep well."
I hung up, and leaned back in the armchair. Feeling drowsy, I closed my eyes.