CHAPTER 8
It's half past eleven in the morning. John is sitting on a bench in front of the London Eye, waiting patiently. After a couple more messages, Hope and he had come to the conclusion that London was actually a great place for them to meet. Both familiar as well, apparently, they were able to pick a particular bench close to the London Eye, where they will meet. Today, at eleven o'clock, he will see Hope's face for the first time. He is excited. A little bit nervous as well. "What if Hope lied throughout all their messages, and turns out to be some sort of psychopath." No, he shakes his head. He can't believe that those messages weren't sincere. He checks his watch. Twenty minutes till eleven.
Ten more minutes have passed and John is getting more and more nervous. He takes his phone out of his pocket, to check if this is indeed the correct date. It is. It's also the correct place and almost the correct time. Just ten minutes left. He looks around, scans the crowd. Tries to see if he can find Hope. It shouldn't be too hard. She's wearing a blue ribbon. It may sound cliché, but it's an easy way to make a distinction. He's wearing a white ribbon. Five minutes left. "What if she doesn't show up? Shouldn't she be here already? He was early, why shouldn't she be early?" Just as John is realising that he isn't making much sense, he sees it. Something blue. It's not the ribbon he was expecting. It's not a ribbon at all. It's a scarf, and not just any scarf. He can see only a glimpse of it, but he's sure of what he saw. After a little hesitation he gets up from the bench.
He saw the person wearing the scarf was going to the right, so John walks to the right. He stands still, tries to look around nonchalantly, while he's actually scanning his surroundings. There! Going around that corner, he's sure. Quickly he walks towards the corner and peers into the alley it leads to. No one's there. He walks into the alley until the end. It's a dead end, but he's sure that someone went in here. "He can't just have vanished!" Then he sees that to his left, the wall isn't too high, and that that bin has been placed very strategically. Only seconds later, John lands on the other side of the wall. He's in another alley now. He follows it until the alley splits into two paths. After a quick look he sees that the right path is a dead end, so he chooses to follow the left path. He's running now. Then, just as he thinks he's lost the man, he sees him. Just the back of him and only for a second. The alley ends in a big street, and when John gets there, he sighs. The crowd is too big, he can't see anything. He's not going to find the man here.
Suddenly he realises what he was doing before he started chasing someone. He looks at his watch. "Shit!" he thinks to himself, although he may have said it out loud as well. It's ten past eleven and he still has to go back to the bench. So much for a good first impression.
When he finally gets back to the bench, it's almost half past eleven. There is no sign of Hope. John could hit himself in the head out of frustration. "She's probably left, thought I set her up." He waits for over an hour, just to be sure, but Hope doesn't show up. Angry and disappointed, he goes home.
As soon as he gets home, he opens his laptop. When he signs in to the website, there's no message from Hope. He hadn't expected one, so he starts typing immediately.
Dear Hope,
I'm so so so incredibly sorry! I never meant to let you down, but I thought I saw my friend, I really did. I went after him and tried to get a hold of him, but I lost him. I know it can't be him, but I could've sworn it was him. I'm sorry, please forgive me. I'm a horrible person and I deserve that you are probably hating me right now, but I want make it up to you.
Sincerely,
Jack
After sending the message he rests his head on the table. He's so confused. Realising that Sherlock wasn't just a friend to him had made everything so much more complicated. He started seeing him everywhere. In real life as well as in his dreams. A couple of nights ago, he could've sworn that he heard someone play the violin outside of his flat, but when he got up and looked out of the window, he didn't see anyone. It was driving him mad.
Because he didn't have anything better to do, he grabbed a book and started reading. He didn't know he was waiting for something, until he heard the "ding" sound. The sound that he had heard for the first time only a couple of weeks ago. Immediately, he threw the book away and jumped to his laptop. He was still signed in. Hope had replied fairly quickly, assuming she had been in town to meet him. Somewhere in the back of his head he realised that Hope must live close to the London Eye as well. Somewhere in London. He clicked on the message.
Dear Jack,
Don't apologise. You don't need to. If there's anyone who should apologise, it's me. I never showed up, not really. I suppose you couldn't know that.
There's something that I need to tell you, or rather, show you. I'd like to set a new date, but I'd rather meet somewhere a bit more private this time. How about Speedy's bar on Baker Street? I hope you will still want to meet me, despite the fact that I didn't show up today.
Sincerely,
Hope
John swallows. His mind is overflowing with thoughts. "Hope never showed up? Why wouldn't she have, especially if she wants to meet me again? And why Baker Street? Is it a coincidence, or does Hope know more than she's been letting on? She did say something about telling me something. Am I ready to go Baker Street again? Should I go? What if she lets me down again? No, she won't. What am I going to do?"
Then, because John is a man who likes mystery and potential danger, he decides he will meet Hope in Speedy's bar.
Dear Hope,
Seems that meeting was never meant to be. I want to give this, give you, another chance. I think Speedy's bar is a good place to meet.
What day do you want to meet up, and what time? I promise I won't go and chase some imaginary guy this time.
Sincerely,
Jack
When he presses the "send" button, he sighs. He's not sure what to think of this day. He's sad that Hope never showed up, because if she would have, he would have been too busy to think Sherlock was around.
Sherlock. He really thought it was him. Thinking back, he realises that he never saw more of the man than his coat and a blue scarf. That's not much to go on. In hindsight, he probably imagined the whole thing. He hopes Hope will be able to meet soon. Since he has realised his feelings for Sherlock it's been getting more and more difficult to put him out of his head. He scolds himself internally. He was trying to get over Sherlock, instead, he's imagining what he would say to Sherlock if he was still alive. How he would say what he's feeling. It's hopeless. He probably wouldn't say anything. He'd be too scared that Sherlock wouldn't return his feelings.
It's strange, the last couple of weeks before Sherlock killed himself, John had thought the consulting detective had finally started to loosen up a little. They had even had a couple of meaningful conversations. They ended in John being declared an idiot, but still. It was nice, he had felt like Sherlock saw him as a friend. But even now, with new information from his side, he doesn't think there was more to it than that. Just a friend. Although being a friend of Sherlock Holmes, that's quite an achievement.
John is interrupted from his thoughts when he, once again, hears the "ding" sound coming from his laptop. Hope has replied.
Dear Jack,
I'm very glad that you decided that you still want to meet me.
If it suits you, two days from now, ten o'clock in the morning.
Meet you at Speedy's bar.
Sincerely,
Hope
He replies that the date and time are manageable for him, and he logs off. Although it's hardly afternoon, he feels tired. Today has been emotionally challenging. He decides to take a little nap, and after that, he'll see what happens. He has more than a day to fill, before anything will happen again.
Author's Note: I want to thank everyone for reading, it makes me very happy :) Also, I got my first review. THANKS! :D
Next chapter will be the last. I'll post it tomorrow!
