When Charlie finally arrived at the restaurant, she spent a long time mentally complaining to herself that she had decided against taking a cab. Of course it began to rain when she was half the way and of course her umbrella laid, perfectly save and warm, on her drawer. So she travelled the way from the station to the restaurant at a run and was glad when she saw the restaurants entrance. After she had given her coat to the waiter and had been led to her table, her thoughts took another direction.

"Geez! What am I doing here? And WHY am I doing it?" She sat down at the table, laid for two, with her view turned to the other guests; some old habits just die hard. She put her bag besides her, took her mobile out and laid it on the table. "You REALLY need a smartphone, Charlie!" she could hear Tessa's voice, as if she sat right beside her. Tessa, her neighbours 16year old granddaughter, fascinated by all what Charlie used to call "modern stuff" and talking, talking, talking to her about the benefits of smartphones until Charlie thought her head had to burst. She had given in and now this small, pink ("you HAVE to take a pink one, Charlie, of course, you are a woman!")... THING laid next to her. Oh, she has not been unhappy with her oldfashioned mobile, just good enough to call and being called and she couldn't decide if she really would need all these features. But, well... she sighed silently... Tessa just meant it well and maybe she and her pink mobile will be friends some day.

Her thoughts turned back to the restaurant. Here she was, styled and with a new haircut, just waiting for a man, she currently just knew virtually. "Dave"... of course she knew that this wasn't his real name; she probably knew more of him than he would have preferred. Every time, the tinkle of this ridiculous windchime, hanging over the entrance door, announced a new guest, she looked up covert. And so it was this time; a man came in, looked around, obviously seeking someone, then turning round to the waiter. At this moment, she allowed herself to take a look at his striking profile. He looked good, but it was conspicuous that he had also had some bad times in his life. When he turned round and came her direction, her breath stopped... Should HE be..? But he passed her table and sat down at the table next to her, giving her another chance to sight his profile. His table was laid for two too, she noted, surprisingly, a little disappointed.

A few minutes later, the waiter brought her white coffee, in proper style in a bowl, how she noticed with a little smile to the waiter. She grabbed her spoon; in the moment, she pulled it up from the sugar box, her phone made a little sound. It was so unexpected, that she winced and the spoon fall directly into her bowl with a clank. "Damn!" She swore subdued. Drops of coffee were all around the bowl and also on her dress. When she grabbed the napkin to erase the drops, the next thing that fell down was her mobile. With a little murmur she bend forward to feel out the phone on the floor. When she rose from under the table, she met HIS amused eye. Not that as well! She had been very good in making herself a fool in sight of others for her whole life.

With another little sigh, she grabbed her phone to see what caused the sound. It was a message. "I' m sorry, something cropped up. Dave!" "What the...?" With a frowning, she read the message, then lowered her phone and looked around in the restaurant. Out of the corner of her eyes it appeared to her that someone was watching her, hided in the crowd at the bar.. Could it be...? A suspicion raised in her mind and she looked to her phone. With a vigorous swipe she unlocked it, scrolled hard until she'd found what she was looking for. She crossed her arms in front of her breast, the phone held in her hand... not bothering holding it on to her ear. A few seconds later she heard a quiet ringing and just a moment later, a man from the bar stumbled out of the restaurant. With an angry snort, Charlie threw the mobile in her bag. "Thank you, Tessa, for your »geoooorgeous« idea, to check out some men for me! What an idiotic plan!" She felled back on her seat, grabbed the bowl of coffee and held it in both hands, enjoying the warmth and inhaling the smell of the coffee. When she opend her eyes again, once again she catches HIS eye. She smiled apologizing and with a resigned struck, then turned back to her coffee. And also to her own thoughts. What should she tell Tessa, when she asked about her date? She never would give in to such an idea! Maybe she should tell Tessa a good story about a wonderful date...

She lifted her head, when she heard a quiet voice and the tinkle of some dishes. The waiter had cleared away one place setting from the side table, HE seemed to make a order from the waiter.

Charlie gave the waiter a hint. "Please clear one place setting from my table too! And say..." she bend forward, taking a short glimpse on his name tag "Andrew, what did my neighbour ordered from you!?" "Oh, he ordered a whisky! Looks like he had been stood up!" he added confidential.

Charlie gave up to her gut instincts and grabbed her bag to dig in it for her shabby moleskine; she pulled out a sheet and asked Andrew for his pen. "...wait a second please!" she told Andrew while scribbling a short note on the sheet. "Would you please serve this note with the whisky?" Andrew took the note with a wise little smile and turned around.

When John arrived at the restaurant, he took a moment in front of the entrance to shake the rain off his jacket, before he entered and looked around with narrowed eyes to get accustomed to the dim light inside. The restaurant was filled with people as he looked around searching, then the waiter stood by his side. "Mr Watson, your escort isn't here now. May I lead you to your table?" But John didn't answer, he went straight on to his table. It was the same as the last time he had met Sarah; he wanted to try a completely new start. He had spent hours over hours to tell his roommate NOT to come and crash another of his dates. He was so deep immersed in his thoughts that he didn't recognize the hopeful flash the woman at the side table gave him as he passed her. He sat down on his chair; while waiting for Sarah, his thoughts went back to her date two weeks ago.

Sarah had been far from pleased, when Sherlock suddenly appeared and hadn't stopped babbling about "corpse, the fourth, message, need assistance" John had tried his best to induce him to JUST DISAPPEAR, but when Sherlock had taken a chair, sat down at their table and began to talk about all those bloody details, D.I. Lestrade had given him in advance, he retreated once more. Very pleased, so it seemed, Sherlock observed how Sarah left table and restaurant hastily. "Weak stomach, obviously!" John had tried to take a deep deep breath, before he began to talk. When he did, his voice was bristling with suppressed rage. Sherlock listened with a friendly smile to what he had to say and stood up the second, John stopped. "Brixton, Lauriston Gardens! Come on!"

John rubbed his forehead while thinking about this miserable moment. Since this evening he had sent, it seems, a million messages to Sarah: excuses, pleases for another chance. And now he was here again. A look at his watch showed him merciless that his chances got smaller and smaller with every round of the sweep hand. He waited 20 minutes for now - and Sarah wasn't known for unpunctuality. More thoughts of Sarah were broken by a quiet beep, a short squeal and a tinkle. While emerging to present, he realized that the noise came from the side table. Obviously, the woman there had been frightened by the noise of her mobile so hard that her spoon had fallen down from her hand. With one glimpse he scanned the person; just to realize one second later amused that he spent too much time with Sherlock. Even in a restaurant, without any cause, he felt like he should make an checklist of the people who surrounded him. At the end of 30, dark haired, nice figure, underlined from a long-sleeved dress. When she grabbed the napkin to swipe away the drops the coffee made, the mobile that laid beside her ("another one with a date!" he thought with an inner smile) fell down too. He was amused while watching her bend down and fishing with her hand for her mobile on the floor. She finally found it and rose from under the table. The beep he heard seemed to come from a message, she got. No really a good message, as it seemed. While reading, her face turned really grim. She looked around in the restaurant and John was really glad that he wasn't in the spot of her eye.

Then she lifted the phone and John needed no Sherlock instincts to see that she was far from being happy. She swiped angrily on the display, held the phone in front of her breast, what made John frown. But then he heard a quiet ringing from the bar, a short while later he saw a man, leaving the restaurant in a hurry. He watched her throwing the mobile back to her bag regardlessly, then his thoughts turn back to his own business. Sarah was delayed over 30 minutes now and with a desperate sigh he had to acknowledge to himself that Sherlock managed once more to undermine his efforts for a normal social live. He was such a really weird guy! He gave the waiter a hint and asked him to clear up one place setting from his table. And to serve him a whisky.

When the waiter came with his whisky, he was surprised that he placed it in front of him with a conspiring twinkle in his eye. With raising the glass, he saw the little, crinkled note beneath it. He unfolded it, read it one time, then another time.

»If you are yet to get drunk, then please let me join you!"

Once again, the analytical part of his brain took the lead; he had really spent too much time with Sherlock, not long and his deductions will get better than the ones his roommate used to surprise all. Big, curved letters, female writing ("Oh, brilliant, Watson!" he scolded himself mentally) He lowered the note, leant back in his chair and rubbed his forehead while thinking. Sarah wouldn't give him any more chances, her statement, not to appear to their date, was more than clear. He lifted his head, turned around, searching and finding her glimpse, smiled and opened his arms in an inviting gesture.

Charlie's breath stopped for a moment, when he turned her way and smiled. "That smile...!" All other thoughts were completely erased from her mind, before she called herself to order. "Keep calm! Relax!" She took her bag and her coffee and stepped over to his table. Suddenly, all her former spontaneity with the note was blown away and she was excited and shy. She took a deep breath and tried to suppress the shivering in her voice. "Thanks a lot for your invitation!" Her voice caused creeps on his back and he smiled. "Pleasure! Seems like we both were stood up this evening!" Suddenly, a dark cloud seemed to go over her face, when she sat down towards him. "Oh! Men...!" she grumbled. A second later she realized what she said. Did she said it out loud? His amused smile said yes. "Oh... No!" she stuttered. "I didn't mean YOU, of course. Oh...!" She lowered her head with a resigned sigh, took a deep breath and looked up at him. "So! Please let us start again from the beginning... My name is Charlie Leicester und if we really plan to get drunk, I need to eat something before! Otherwise I'll dance on the table after the first sip of my whisky!" She smiled and pointed at her tables direction. "I would have brought my plate with me, but.. well... as you maybe recognized, I'm a little bit awkward!" John couldn't prevent a big grin. "Yes, you're right! Oh, please excuse... John Watson!" He smiled a little shyly; since his name appeared in the newspapers, thanks to Sherlock, people react in a million different ways after he mentioned his name. But Charlie just answered her smile. "It's a pleasure... John! So, will you eat something with me?" She turned around and gave Andrew a hint and ordered a new place set, the menu and another whisky.

After Andrew had brought the whisky, she took a big sip, watched by John in surprise, but then she shook as the warm fire went down her throat. "Wow! Maybe I should switch to a cocktail!" Her cheerful laughter made his heart jump around in his breast. "So, Charlie? What are you doing, if not getting stand up in a restaurant?" Charlie took another deep sip of whisky, before she rose her head - and was hit by a look of his breathtaking grey eyes. For a short moment she had to think of the sky on a rainy day. "Oh, I'm self-employed and doing different things. And you...? Do you often get little notes while sitting in a restaurant?" John grinned again. "Oh, no! Not after I left school. I'm a doctor, I was in Afghanistan and now I'm working as a substitute a few days a week in a doctor's office. I..." He was stopped in his sentence because the mobile in his pocket pinged. With an apologizing smile, he grabbed it out of his jacket and opened the message.

Did your smarmy approach came to fruition? - SH

Leave me alone, just this single time! - JW

He smiled apologizingly while he put back the mobile into the pocket. "My roommate!" "Oh, tell me more!" Charlie laughed her little laughter that made his heart beat faster and John was on the verge of telling her EVERYTHING! With some difficulty he restrained himself from that thought, talking to himself to take one step after another. For this reason, he just made a defensive gesture. "Oh no, I won't bore you with ridiculous details about him!"

*ping*

Will you stay outside the home overnight? -SH

"What the...!" John took a deep breath before sinking back the phone into his jacket. "This man will screw me up someday. Maybe one day, I'll just grab his damn mobile and throw it out of the window!" He murmured angrily. In the meantime dinner was done and John had ordered his second whisky, which seemed to go directly to his head. Charlie showed him a lopsided grin. "Why don't you just switch off..?" At this moment, the reason of her question began to ring. "I'll have to... He won't stop.." John stuttered while grabbing the phone. "Give it to me!" Without minding his objection, she took the phone out of his hand, looked at the display and answered the call. "Listen. Sherlock! Dr Watson will be available for you tomorrow. Tonight, he is MY date and I would appreciate if you won't disturb any longer!" The second, the words tumbled out of her mouth, she threw her hand to her mouth. Did she really said all this out loud?

*ping*

That wasn't definitely NOT Sarah's voice. Watson, you charmer! See you tomorrow! - SH

"..tonight he is MY date..." Charlies words seemed to echo in Johns whisky confused head in a continuous loop. Only when Charlie stared at him with a confused look he realized that he sat there, wearing a dumb smile on his face. He hemmed embarrassed. "Well, now you know my roommate. Or, more precisely, he knows you!" John grinned lopsided. "Are you okay with this? What's the matter with him?" "Oh" John laughed. "That's something you'll have to find out yourself, I think! But not tonight. As you said, I'm your date and I don't think he should join us on our first date!" He abandoned himself to an impulse and took her hand, which feels smooth and small in his. He held it with his left, while his right hand traced the contours of her fingers. Besides, he used this intimate moment to take a more precise look at her hand: tender skin, short fingernails with pastel pink polish, no ring. When he rose his eyes, he recognized to his surprise, that her eyes were shut and she obviously enjoyed his tenderness. As if she sensed his glimpse, she smiled wide and whispered without opening her eyes: "If you won't stop, I swear I'll begin to purr!" John joined her laughter. The thought really pleased to him, but before he could continue, a melody sounded from her side of the table. "Oh, no! Not yet, Rosie!" With a sigh, she pulled back her hand and took her mobile. "Please excuse me!" With short words, she answered the call. "Rosie!... No, no I'm not at home... Ah... Why does Kim cannot deputize? What about Alex?... Yes, yes I see! What's the order?..." While listening, she grabbed out her moleskine and a pen "..Rosie, that's too much for me alone. I need assistance!.. What? No... Yes. Yes, okay, I'll do it!.. Give me the address!" She scribbled something down on a blank page and for a weird moment, there was this picture in Johns head of how he appears on a crime scene with Charlie as a female Sherlock. He chuckled amused, until he realized that Charlie looked at him, really astonished. "I'm sorry... I just... Erm.. What did you say?" Charlie grinned at him. "Can you bake, John?"