Even Sociopaths Need Blankets
Chapter 2
"Enjoy the rest of your day!"
Olivia smiled and nodded to the cashier, taking the three bags of food and other necessities and hanging them over her arms, stepping out into the pouring rain and running over to the path as she left the store, attempting to 'hail a cab', as the British put it. In Australia, it was simply catching a taxi, but the British had their particular way to say things. Olivia would admit that she was finding the different ways that the British said or did things interesting, and somewhat hard to adjust to, though she hadn't been around that much anyway, and had only been in the UK for a day.
She sighed exasperatedly as she stepped back under the cover of a row of shops, sheltering herself from the rain temporarily. Another thing she was having a hard time adjusting to; the rain. It had rained all day! Sure, they had rainy days back in Australia, but it barely ever rained a full day without breaks. Constant rain wasn't something Olivia liked, unless she was inside and sheltered from it all. It was nice when she was inside, not when she was in it. The heat of Australia was something Olivia had always loved. Playing volleyball on the beach with her friends and family had always been a highlight. There was a lot she would miss.
After a few more attempts to get a taxi, Olivia sighed once more and was on the verge of giving up as she stood out in the rain, contemplating if she could remember enough of the way to Baker Street to walk, or if she could ask someone or something, until she was shielded from the rain when an umbrella was held over her head.
Olivia turned to see a man who was slightly taller than herself standing before her wearing a grey business suit, an almost wry smile painted on his face. "Cold?" Was all he said as he looked down at her, the smile never changing, almost fake against the rest of his features.
Olivia was slightly nervous at the fact that this almost predator-like stranger had approached her on the street, on a dull and rainy day. Back in Australia, people weren't as prone to random acts of kindness as Londoners seemed to be, and Olivia had a hard time believing that there weren't any ulterior motives hidden in the man's mind. But she decided to give it a chance, just as she had given London a chance, and in turn, all the different mannerisms that came with the new place.
"Yeah, a bit." She said, shifting her foot slightly, almost ready to just run away from the man, though he did appear quite fit – as fit as a business man could afford to be. They probably couldn't exercise often. Though businessmen always seemed to have incredibly long strides. He was obviously high up on the business chain, anyone could tell that simply from the way he was dressed, and the way he held himself.
The man chuckled lightly. "The London weather is quite an adjustment from the heat." He said, making Olivia incredibly uneasy until she realised that it was just her accent; everyone knew an Australian accent when they heard it, and everyone knew that Australia was hot. It was common knowledge.
"Y-yeah, it is." She agreed, forcing a slight nod in acknowledgment. It was hard to move her body because of the cold, and also because of the aloof atmosphere that came from the man that stood beside her. He wasn't the approachable type, in her opinion.
And what he said next only served to multiple her discomfort by a million.
"Your ride home."
Olivia faltered as a black car pulled up on the curb beside them, a woman dressed in a thin black dress opening the door and offering for Olivia and the man to get in.
Olivia glanced back at the man, who wore an almost expectant expression on his face, as though he assumed that she was just going to easily get in the car, no questions asked. Olivia found several flaws in this, as would anyone, and simply replied with a hesitant and fumbled, "Oh, I-I really don't think it's…" She trailed off and left the sentence open to whatever the man – and the woman, in this case – would decide to think it was. It almost seemed like, well, prostitution to Olivia, and she would have fully assumed that her suspicions were true had the man not been so blunt about it.
"I insist." He said with another fake smile, this one almost evil. It made Olivia's insides turn upside down. First, a stranger off the street had sheltered her from the rain, and now a black car pulls up and he expects her to get inside willingly, and go wherever he decides to take her. Olivia did not like this at all, but something about the man's insistence… It made her movements almost unwilling as she stepped towards the car.
She slid inside, followed by the woman and the man, all wedged in uncomfortably, though, when the woman pulled out a phone and started rapidly texting – and proceeded to do this for the entire duration of the ride – it quickly became apparent that she wasn't at all uncomfortable as Olivia was, which meant the man probably wasn't uncomfortable either. These thoughts only proceeded to make Olivia even more uncomfortable as she supressed the urge to shift in her seat.
"Where to?" The driver asked, directing the question towards the man, who turned to Olivia.
"Yes, where to?" The way each word rolled off of his tongue almost seemed to be ridiculing Olivia, but she knew better and figured that it was just the man's tone of voice, and his posture and, well, pretty much everything about him.
To make matters worse, now he wanted to know where she lived.
"221B Baker Street."
Olivia didn't even know why she said it. She probably should have said an address a few blocks away – regardless of the fact that she didn't even know any addresses a few blocks away – or just downright not told the random and slightly creepy stranger her address! But she had done so anyway, and she was mentally kicking herself for doing it. She didn't like to make excuses, but she knew that it was just something about the man; the way he held himself and the way he spoke; it all commanded an air of superiority, and Olivia just felt obliged to do whatever he asked, or to answer his every question with complete and honest truth.
It wasn't long before they were pulled up outside of her home address, and Olivia wasted no time getting out of the vehicle and stepping up on the path, half expecting the man to pull her back in and take her someplace else. Though, funnily enough, he still didn't seem like that kind of man. He was uncomfortable to be around, and he seemed to have some kind of a lust for power, but aside that, he did have quite a kind face.
After a moment of silence, Olivia finally managed to get out a spluttered, "Thanks!" Before she realised that she really should ask the man a few questions. "Who are you?" She asked. "And why did you help me, and…" She trailed off, not really knowing what she should even say to the man, trying to resist a frown in his presence.
"Someone who's interested." The man smiled slightly, the expression almost condescending in its own way. Before Olivia could even begin to ask what he meant, the man continued. "As to why I did it… Consider it a welcoming gift." He told her, once again not giving her any time to question how he could have known she had recently moved in before he finished with, "And, quite frankly, you're useless at getting a cab." Just before the door to the car was shut, he concluded the almost one-sided conversation. "We'll have to have lunch sometime. 'Til then." With that, the door was shut firmly with that sound that an old-car-that-seems-new makes, and Olivia was left standing outside her apartment's door with the bags on her arms, wondering what exactly had just happened.
When she finally realised that she was still standing out in the rain getting more and more soaked the longer she stood there, she took the initiative to step inside, getting the key to her apartment out and unlocking the door, heading in and setting the now soaked bags of food on the bench. At least the food isn't wet, she thought as she started packing everything away.
The man had said something about going out to lunch sometime, and yet he didn't get any of her details – not even her name! But he did know where she lived, and that in itself unnerved Olivia greatly. That, and the fact that the man somehow knew she had recently moved in. If he had simply figured that she was a tourist or something, it would have been acceptable… But how did he know that she was living here? She thought back and realised that she probably shouldn't have just openly said her address, but she just… didn't seem to have control at the time. That was all she had going for at the moment.
She sighed and shut her cupboard, storing the bags in a draw and heading out into the lounge. She checked the time to see 5 pm and figured she'd head up to see if John and Sherlock were home. She was supposed to have dinner with the two so that she could meet Sherlock, and it was close enough to dinner time that it would be okay.
The door was answered after a short knock, and John greeted Olivia and ushered her inside, closing the door firmly behind her.
"Take a seat," He said, gesturing to the furniture in their flat. Olivia thought she had a bit of mess with her half-settled apartment, but Sherlock and John had mess everywhere! The desk was covered in unorganised papers and with a peek into the kitchen, she saw lab equipment. In the kitchen. What did these boys do?! There was a skull, on the mantel. A skull. A human skull.
Olivia hesitantly did so, sitting in a nice big comfy looking armchair and settling herself in it as John brought a platter of tea in from the kitchen. The tea was probably prepared by Mrs Hudson, as the tray was set out neatly – and the teacups were covered in a floral pattern. Though, the two boys were together in Olivia's knowledge, so perhaps Sherlock, who seemed so far to be the more 'feminine' side to the couple, liked that particular pattern? But Olivia decided she wasn't in the position to guess at this stage. Maybe they were both manly. She was just planting stereotypes on the two of them.
"Sherlock, with his inexplicable manners," John spoke as he handed her a cup of tea, sitting down in his own seat, "Has decided that he won't be turning up for dinner. He's off elsewhere doing God knows what." John sipped at his own cup, holding back his exasperation in front of Olivia. Why Sherlock insisted on making the man chase after him everywhere he went, John didn't know. But this time, John had decided to actually get to know the person who was now living in their apartment building. It was particularly odd, considering that Sherlock had tested each and every one of the other tenants so far and had found different ways to drive each and every one of them out, yet he had yet to investigate Olivia. John knew for a fact that Sherlock wanted to, but the case that he was currently working on was taking a lot of his attention, and he wasn't going out of his way to try and meet the girl as he had the other renters.
John had liked a few of them, though there were some odd ones.
There had been a boy around 17 who had recently moved out of home. He owned several frogs; big, green ugly things that sat in a tank croaking all day. Sherlock could not stand the constant distraction, and while he could have just tuned it out – he certainly tuned John out often enough – he had insisted upon disposing of the frogs. The boy was lucky he had caught Sherlock in the middle of planning how best to get rid of them. He loved the frogs enough to leave quite quickly.
There was a woman who had obviously had some kind of dark secret. She wore a lot of make-up and had a book in her hand whenever John saw her. Sherlock had taken one look at her, whispered something in her ear and she was gone the next morning. John didn't even want to ask, quite honestly.
John's particular favourite, however, was the old lady who had instantly engaged in conversation with Mrs Hudson. John had probably just appreciated the fact that she had stopped his landlady's constant rambles, – or at least taken them elsewhere – as John was often the main audience for the woman. The lady, however, had a son who came to visit and had started somewhat of a row between himself and Sherlock. Sherlock had allegedly remarked upon the boy's weight and earned himself a nice bruise under his left eye, much to the distaste of the boy's mother, and she had packed up quite quickly, leaving behind both Mrs Hudson and John, both of whom were disappointed, though for different reasons.
John, however, had yet to know anything about the ginger haired woman sitting in front of him. He didn't have anything close to his partner's skills of deduction, and so he found himself almost feeling pressed at the fact that he didn't immediately have everything about the woman at his disposal. Sherlock had everything with the others down to a 'T', but when John looked at Olivia, all he saw was a petite woman who liked being quiet. And as far as he knew, he could even be wrong about that!
The best way, he figured, to get to know the woman, was simply to do it the old fashioned way: have a conversation.
So they did.
It hadn't taken long at all for the two of them to warm to each other, and they were both quite pleased with the development.
So far, John knew that she had been born in England and lived the first years of her life in an orphanage, but had been brought up afterwards in Australia. He knew that she loved her family quite dearly, obvious from the way she talked about them as fondly as she did, and that one of her cousins had recently had a baby. He also discovered that she had a strict diet of daily custard; she clearly loved the stuff a lot, as she had cut their dinner – which consisted of some Chinese from down the block – for a moment to run down and get a bowl from her apartment. John was amused when he saw how messy she was with her food; she had spilled quite a bit of rice on the floor – and had quickly cleaned it up – along with staining her white shirt with a rather large custard stain that she had obtained after laughing at a story John had told her about his sister Harriet.
Needless to say that it was a fruitful evening for John, as he had come to like the girl. She hadn't taken much to open up, and he was glad that she wasn't as quiet as she had seemed during their first brief meeting. She was a good person to talk to, but she also spoke back, which he liked.
Olivia, on the other hand, liked John, but she knew that it was going to take some time to adjust to living with someone unfamiliar to her. He liked to strike up conversation, that much she found blatantly obvious from the second they began to talk, but he was quite easy to stay on track with, so that was okay.
"Well, it was great to meet you." John said as he cleared up their tea tray, Olivia packing up the rubbish from the take out. "Properly, anyway." He flashed an almost emotionless smile towards Olivia, one that he seemed to wear quite often.
Olivia nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you too." She said simply, dumping the rubbish in the bin before she grabbed the bowl she had used for her custard and tapped it as she made her way to the door. John headed over and gave her a farewell nod and slight wave – the brief kind you give to someone who's standing five feet away.
"See you whenever Sherlock decides to finally meet you." He concluded, and Olivia simply nodded and headed down the stairs.
With the way the dinner had ended, anyone could assume that it had been a date, but at the same time, it had been in John and Sherlock's flat, hardly the setting for a date, and the meal was relatively cheap take away. That, and the fact that as far as Olivia knew, the men were in a pretty steady relationship.
John had felt the "date" sort of vibe from the evening too, but he didn't really see Olivia as his 'type', per say. She was a little bit too quiet and shy, and while she was cute, she wasn't really that… Well, she wasn't what he was looking for in a woman. He left the subject as he turned in for the night, hoping that Sherlock would at least be quiet when he finally returned, and that he wouldn't wake anyone.
Olivia cleaned the bowl and spoon just before she settled into her bed. Aside from the strange encounter with the, well, stranger, earlier that day, spending dinner with John had been nice, and she could only hope that Sherlock was just as kind to her when she met him, especially considering the apprehension John and Mrs Hudson had expressed towards the meeting.
It will probably all be fine, Olivia decided as she drifted into a ridiculously comfortable sleep. She had been on her feet way too much these past few days.
A/N: I wrote 1,500 words today, Please love me. Usually it's around 500 a day D: Just for you guys. And oh my gosh, assuming that you've most likely figured out who the "mystery" character is (it's incredibly obvious, meant to be XD), I have to say HOLY JEEZ HE IS HARD TO WRITE. So awkward and reserved and aloof .-.
And because it's 2:26am, I found that I was too lazy to dialogue all the John/Olivia scene. Hence the large explanation paragraph.
Now, I promised that I would do this as a massive thank you to all the readers who fanned/favourited/reviewed on Fanfiction. Of course, massive thanks to EternalSilence and AlexTheLlama over on Wattpad, but I ended up with quite a few readers on FF! So thanks!
HUGE thanks (and a million cookies) to Justine-Bro and RainbowShelby for their AMAZING REVIEWS OH MY GOSH THANKSSSSSS 3
Everyone who reviews received a PM reply, because that's what I do :D Always have, always will.
Also a huge thanks to the following, because these people have followed/favourited my story and have given me inspiration to write for you.
Cara-D, CatBloodxxx, DaisyPierce, RainbowShelby 3, TheAngelGirl357, WhereAreYouBatman, Angelic324, EverydayMagic17, , Justine-Bro 3, PheonixUnicorn115, SapphireViolin, emfalcon, gossamermouse101, hannahizar, moonsword17, nachobeats823 and wood-morning!
Sorry if I got names wrong or mentioned anyone twice or something. It's now 2:34am. Cut me a break.
But, thankshoo all because it was knowing that I had people waiting that made me feel the need to write more. I hope you stay for the duration of this story, and that you enjoy it :D
Love you guys HEAPS 3
Let me know what you thought/think/want/need, etc. PLEASE. :D I am open to suggestions, and I just wanna hear from you all :D
Now, I know people are reading this, so my challenge for you is to tell me at least one good thing that happened to you today!
Or don't, your choice.
Love you anyways :D
Thanks!