I cried the first few weeks after I had separated from my husband. Lily, my daughter, slept next to me and some nights my uncontrollable sobbing awoke her. We were living out of a hotel room, when my best friend phoned me and told me that she had found a job opportunity for me.
"Ok." I had answered curious at this proposal. "Where is it?"
"Well, it's an undercover position." She began. I frowned immediately.
"Penny, you know that I like being a negotiator the best." I reminded her gently. "I got out of undercover work years ago."
"I know but Aria, you need to check it out. I already told the detective and he's completely interested in you!" I sighed in displeasure, but checking out my pocketbook told me that I did in fact need the money. The divorce was moving sluggishly, without the full cooperation of my estranged husband.
"Fine. Where is it?"
Three days later, I was standing outside of Heathrow Airport, holding the hand of my little girl. Luckily the Detective Inspector, Greg Lestrade was accommodating and willing to hold an interview with me over the computer. He decided that he wished me to join the force in the New Scotland Yard. I was given 50K pounds a year as well as full benefits. I was relieved, and the divorce had been finalized, after my ex-husband dragging his feet. That was until I called him and threatened him within an inch of his life.
"Mommy?" I looked down at my precious child. I felt a rare smile grace my face.
"Yes?"
"I'm hungry!" I laughed as that made my whole world feel a tinier bit better just then.
"By all means, let's eat!" With that we made our way to a nice diner, where I stowed our luggage in the back of the booth. I ordered a simple salad and she ordered off the children's menu. We took our time, before I decided that it would be best if we checked into a hotel.
I wandered about London for a bit, before deciding on the Brent Hotel. It was located near the outskirts of London, but the rooms were nice and the prices were affordable. At least Lily and I would be able to stay there until I was able to find a place, probably a few days. I could only hope that soon I would be able to get her enrolled in primary school.
The next morning Lily and I went to this café, after checking out of the hotel, where I was able to read the paper. I went directly to the apartments, or flats as they call them here in England, were for rent. I found several different advertisements, but only one that I would be remotely able to afford. It was 221C Baker Street and the price was only 1K pounds per month.
"Lily!" I called as I stood up abruptly. She came bounding over from the children's area. I grabbed her hand and took her with me to the desk. The man behind the counter was kind enough to write down the directions. He advised me to hire a cabby, so that is what I did.
Within half hour we standing outside the flat. It looked charming enough, there was an odd shop directly beside this house. I believe they had moving cats in the window. I dunno, not really in my décor to decorate with moving cats. I lifted the knocker and banged it down several times.
"SHUT UP!" I heard a man's rich baritone voice, clearly affected with irritation shout through the door as footsteps thundered down what I could assume to be stairs.
"Sherlock, don't be so rude!" I heard a woman's voice reprimand the man, who yanked open the door. I was shocked when I laid eyes on the man. He was tall, at least taller than me by seven or eight inches, dark hair, prominent cheekbones, and the most piercing grey eyes one could see. I think I gasped as I looked at him startled. I swore never to look at a man again, not after Robert, but this was a man whom was clearly very attractive.
"Um, hello," was all I managed to get out before he turned and looked at a person standing behind him.
"Mrs. Hudson, I believe that 221C will finally get rented out," was all he said before storming up the stairs behind him. I gaped in disbelief as the woman, whom I presume to be the Mrs. Hudson came up to the door.
"Oh, don't be too bothered with him, dear, he's always like that." She said kindly. "But please do come in." Lily and I were both ushered into the foyer. "I'll be back in just a moment. I have to go grab the keys from my own apartment."
"How'd he do that mommy?" Lily looked up at me with her innocent blue eyes.
"I haven't the faintest idea, darling." I was as bewildered as she was. He totally picked me apart, I could tell just by his facial expression. Mrs. Hudson came trotting back to us.
"This way my dears," she cheerily said and led us into a basement apartment. Some paint was peeling and it was cold and damp but would do for the time being.
"Mommy," Lily clutched my hand as we peered at this room. Even if I had deemed it unsuitable, I suppose it wouldn't make any difference as I could not afford anything else. I glanced down at her and realized that she would want to paint the place.
"Mrs. Hudson?" I called out before quietly telling Lily to go glance out of the windows.
"Yes, dear?" I walked to her side, but kept an eye on Lily.
"Would it be possible to paint this apartment?" I asked. She nodded glancing around at the unwelcomed looking home.
"That would be quite alright." She grinned. I had to smile.
"Then we'll take it!" I said. We settled the matter within her office, Lily munching on a plateful of biscuits, or rather cookies.
"Come, meet the other tenants," Mrs. Hudson was up and out of her chair before I could decline her offer. Reluctantly I followed behind her, picking Lily up and depositing the plate on the desk before she could drop it. "Boys!"
There were a load of stairs. They wrapped around twice, before we finally hit the hallway. The door was wide open, so Mrs. Hudson rapped on the door thrice and walked right in. I was hesitant to just follow into someone's apartment, but with a nod from Mrs. Hudson I quickly followed.
"This is our new tenant, Aria Smithson." Mrs. Hudson introduced me to the boys. The gorgeous man from the hallway was sitting disinterested on a chair with his hands pressed together in a prayer position and then there was another man with blonde hair sitting on the chair directly opposite of him, reading a newspaper.
"Hello," I said hesitantly, hoisting Lily up higher onto my shoulder as I did so.
"Mommy?" She kind of hummed, being half asleep.
"Shhh," I said softly, before humming a little bit of a lullaby. She fell back into sleep quite quickly.
"That is her daughter Lily." Mrs. Hudson pointed out. I glanced up and noticed the dark haired guy's eyes piercing through my tough exterior.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, isn't it Sherlock?" the man reading the paper gave me a grin. Mrs. Hudson made her apologies and left to check the biscuits she had in the oven.
"Yes, delighted," his voice made me shiver, it was so rich and deep.
"I'm Dr. John Watson," the blonde said, standing up from his chair. "Here, let me." With gentle hands he took Lily off of my shoulder and set her in the seat.
"No, you cannot possibly give up your seat." I protested stepping closer to the chair.
"Oh, no, it's quite alright." I sighed and gave up quickly. Sometimes things weren't exactly the most pressing to argue. My cell rang, filling the air with folk pop music. "Apologies." I hurried to pick it up.
"Hello?" I asked, not having time to bother with looking at the caller ID. It was my ex-husband. "What exactly is it that you want Robert?"
"I want you to come back home." He told me, being quite serious about this whole issue.
"No. What part of I'm leaving and not coming back do you not understand?" I hissed into the phone. I walked closer to the door. "It's not as though you were the most upstanding citizen to begin with, but to find you like that! It's disgusting!"
"Oh, come on! You can't just take Lily all the way to England without having a man around." My ex-husband argued his point. "Besides what are you going to do in England anyhow?"
"I'm actually working within the New Scotland Yard. And I don't need a man like you around to influence my daughter!" I raised my voice a hair. "You aren't a man! A man is someone who is kind, gentle, passionate, clever, fun to be around, responsible, and best of all, faithful!"
"That wasn't my fault!" He snapped back at me.
"Oh, and so Sarah just happened to come by the house, seduce you a couple of times, and you felt that that was alright?" I shouted, spinning around angrily. "Well let me tell you something Robert, if it is the last thing I do, I don't want you anywhere near my daughter!"
"She's my daughter too!" He yelled, becoming incensed.
"Yeah and you signed away all your parental rights when you signed the papers a week ago." I smirked.
"What?" He sounded enraged at this new development.
"Yeah, I probably should have mentioned your attorney took you for about ten grand without you receiving anything at all, besides remaining the owner of a mortgage payment and three grand in debt." I was having a blast, for the first time in a while I was allowed to be myself.
"Mommy, is it Daddy?" Lily asked me, sitting up from the chair. I turned and glanced at her, worried that she might be upset over what I had said but she was just sitting there, as if asking me to pass her the popcorn.
"Yes, it is." I said, covering the mouthpiece.
"Let me talk with Lily," Robert said. I rolled my eyes.
"Your dad wants to talk with you. Do you want me to put you on?" I asked in a tone of voice that Robert was quite familiar with.
"No!" She shook her head. "Daddy made you cry. I'm mad at him!" She turned and stubbornly made her way off the chair, refusing Dr. Watson's assistance. I raised an eyebrow before telling Robert what she said.
"You've poisoned her!" He never was good with loosing anything. "You turned her against me!" Always the melodramatic one.
"Robert I will speak with you, once you've overcome this silly little bipolar thing you have going on." I snapped the phone shut, only for it to ring in my hand. I just merely pressed the button on the side and let the call go directly to voicemail. It continued to ring and finally I just shut the phone off completely.
"Mommy! Look at this!" I heard Lily's voice call from the kitchen, I would assume. I hurried to her side and took in the kitchen table. "Fingers!" I took the proffered jar from her and turned it around.
"Yes, they are fingers." I agreed with her, as if this was a normal occurrence.
"Can I get some?" She asked eager to start out work as a mortuary assistance, a little too young I thought.
"No." I said firmly. She pouted for a moment, then her face brightened.
"What about eyes?" I shook my head at her before leading her back out into the sitting room.
"Hands?"
"Feet?" Here was more vigorous head shaking.
"Tongues?" I shook my head once more. "But I thought people always kept some tongues."
"What?" I asked confused and looking down at her.
"You know. They always say something about people and tongues." Lily said looking up at me.
"People speak in tongues." I said softly.
"But doesn't that mean that they need to keep a jar of them?"
"No." Sherlock interjected. I glanced at him in surprise, he seemed amused by our bantering. "It simply means that people are able to speak another person's language."
"Then why don't they say langu-gu-guae?" Lily stumbled over the last word.
"Because Lily, it is an old adage." I said.
"Fine. Then what about a skull?" She asked me a little overeager for the whole dead thing.
"No!" I blurted out. "Why would you even want one?"
"Mr. Holmes, and Dr. Watson keep one!" She pointed at the mantle. I stepped closer and looked at it. It really was a real skull. Creepy. But I suppose better than the body parts strewn around the kitchen.
"And they are both grown-ups. No mothers to annoy and pester all day long!" I began to tickle her, making her roar with laughter.
"Ok then, how about a mouse?"
"Dead or alive?" I had to ask the question, especially after all that she had been asking me for the past fifteen minutes.
"Alive!"
"I'd prefer dead, so no." I mutter the first part, then raised my voice for the last. Sherlock must have heard my muttering and gave me a smirk.
"Cat?" I shook my head.
"Dog?"
"Maybe." I said giving her a thoughtful look. "You'll have to negotiate with Mrs. Hudson. And figure out if you can leave it at home when you have to go to a sitter's house."
"Mom!" Lily protested. "I'm old enough to stay by myself!" I shook my head in amusement.
"Really?" I raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Then tell me how you would fend for yourself when I was out on a case?"
"I'd climb up onto the counter, fetch the peanut butter and jelly, and sit in front of the television and watch it." She gave me an innocent smile.
"And you would end up with scurvy and rickets." I informed her, shaking my head. "So, no. Besides you are all of four and a half."
"I'm going to be five in two months!" She pouted, making me hold in my giggles. I met Sherlock's eyes and was startled to feel such attraction to this strange man. Especially after the whole Robert fiasco.
"I'm back!" Mrs. Hudson sang out as she entered the room.
"Mrs. Hudson!" Lily shouted running to her.
"Don't run!" I warned, then grabbed her around the waist as she tripped on the corner of a rug. I had always had feelings about things, and sometimes I even dreamt of things that were yet to come. That was rare, but it had happened a few times.
"Mommy said if I talk to you and you agree I could have one!" She garbled, wriggling out of my hold. "So can I?"
"It is may I," Sherlock intoned from his seat. I turned and looked at him, before turning back to look at my daughter and Mrs. Hudson.
"What is it dear?" Mrs. Hudson was confused as Lily completely left out the whole reasoning behind what she was asking about.
"May I" she interjected haughtily, "please have a dog?"
"You want a dog?" Mrs. Hudson frowned. She didn't particularly look too happy about this turn of events. I was praying that she said no, that way I didn't have to worry about both Lily and her pet.
"Yes, pretty please?" She begged, using her huge eyes to her advantage. "I'll love him, play with him, walk him, feed him."
"Where would you take him to use the potty?" I asked, walking up to the skull on the mantle. I picked it up gently and looked at it.
"Well, don't they use the same potty as we do?" She asked, clearly confused. I would let her have a dog if we lived in the country, which we obviously do not, so it was clearly out of the question having one in an apartment in the middle of downtown London. I looked at the teeth, attempting to figure out the age of the skeleton.
"No, they most certainly do not." I assured her. "You have to carry bags around with you and pick up any of their messes if you live in the city limits. It's the same in the country though." I whirled around to face her, my hand still inside the cranium of the skull.
"Ewww!" She cried out leaping around with a disgusted look on her face.
"Anyway, like I said we have to find you a sitter." I returned the skull to the mantle. "Good day Mr. Holmes, Dr. Watson."
"Wait!" Mrs. Hudson called out as I reached the doorway.
"Yes?"
"You need a sitter?" She asked. I turned about.
"Oh, please tell me you know a rather trustworthy person who could look after Lily. I mean Inspector Lestrade will be requiring my presence within three days' time. And I can't just leave her at home, she'll end up burning the whole building down!" I sucked in a deep breath.
"Yes. I will watch over Lily for you." Mrs. Hudson said. I took a step inside the room.
"Wait, what?" I was confused over this turn of events.
"Yes. I love children, and she is such a pleasure to be around. I'll just add a few hundred more pounds to your rent." I blinked tiredly. Then I nodded.
"Fine. Thank you." With this last sentence I grasped a hold of Lily's hand preparing myself for a new life, one in which I was no longer confined within a marital status.
"He hurt you deeply." Sherlock intoned with that rich, deep voice of his.
"What?"
"You pretend as if you are fine, but your ex-husband ripped your heart out when you came home that day to him cheating on you." I whirled around to face him, an angry expression on my face.
"How dare you!"
"You are trying to be strong, keep your walls up, especially after your childhood. That's why you married him right? You tried to get away. You are much too clever to have fallen in love with a man such as him, especially with your senses." I gasped as my deductions were correct. He had looked directly into my core with those piercing grey eyes.
"What-"
"You can talk to me when you are ready." Sherlock met my eyes with what appeared to be disinterested ones.
"Yeah. Thanks." I was choking up over the whole situation. How he managed to unravel me like a cheap rug was a bit perturbing to be honest.