Elliot Holmes owned a flat on the other side of London. Elliot hardly ever stayed at the flat thought; he had a new house in America, a place in Tokyo, an apartment in Italy, a house in India, and a flat in France. Although Elliot had told Sherlock that Jessica was his girlfriend, Sherlock had deduced that Elliot had at least one 'partner' for each of his houses.
The flat in London was small compared to his other houses, and you didn't have to be Sherlock Holmes to know why. The only time he went to London was because of his business and his sons. The flat had two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, and bathroom, nothing more than what was needed.
The downstairs bedroom was Elliot's while the upstairs one was a guest room.
As soon as Sherlock arrived he went straight upstairs and began to unpack. It was when he was unpacking that he noticed it, the flat was unusually quiet. At each of his houses, Elliot Holmes had at least a few servants. The flat in London was no exception. Elliot Holmes had hired a housekeeper named Naomi; she was in her early sixties and lived a few houses over. She would spend most of her days cleaning the flat, buying fresh food for when her master would return and chatting with the tenants next door. Naomi was always the first one to greet Sherlock when he visited his father; she was the one thing that actually excited him during his visits. He would help her with her chores and then she would take him out on 'adventures' all over the city.
Sherlock came downstairs to see Mr. Douglas fixing himself a sandwich. Sherlock go down his knees and rested his head against the railing on the stairs.
"Where's Naomi?" Sherlock asked.
"Who?" Mr. Douglas said with a mouth full of his sandwich.
"Mrs. Clouds, where is she? She's normally here, so where is she?"
"From what Mr. Holmes told me he fired her."
"What!? Why!?"
"Shut it brat! I don't know, all I know is one day she's here, next she's gone! Now shut it and let me eat!"
Elliot Holmes came home late that night, the time he couldn't tell you, all he knew was that it was well past midnight and he could practically hear his bed calling him. He was walking up the stairs to his flat when he hear yelling, it sounded like Mr. Douglas, but what was he still doing here? Elliot had told him he would be late that night and that he would take a cab home and to take the rest of the night. So why was he still here? And who was he yelling at?
Oh yeah, Sherlock, great.
"THIS IS THE LAST TIME I'M TELLING YOU! GET INTO BED OR ELSE YOU'LL BE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE!"
"Oh shut it! You can't do anything to me! You wouldn't dare! Especially when you're right about to ask him for a raise! Why is that I wonder? Could it be because you need to pay off your debts from your stupid addiction to gambling!?"
"OI! YOU LITTLE LIAR! YOU BETTER KEPT YOUR MOUTH SHUT!"
"Or what? I'll 'be in serious trouble', Ha! Honestly, couldn't think up anything-"
"Sherlock Holmes! Why are you not in bed?" Mr. Douglas had been with Sherlock since that after noon, the poor man was probably at wits end!
"Mr. Holmes!" Mr. Douglas jumped as he turned around.
"Go homes Mr. Douglas, you've done more than enough. Get some rest, I have a meeting tomorrow and will need there by 10 a.m."
"Yes Sir. Goodnight." And with that Mr. Douglas left the father and son alone in the small flat. Elliot Holmes sighed, "Mind telling what that was abo-"
"WHERE'S NAOMI!"
"Sherlock...Please try to understand, business has been down, and I needed to cut down-"
"SO WHY NOT SELL YOUR HOUSE IN FRANCE! OR EVEN BETTER! GET RID OF THE ITALIAN GIRL WHO KEEPS CLINGING ON YOU! Does Miss. Whites know about her? I bet not! I bet she was some whore on the street who need some money and-"
"Sherlock Holmes I will not stand here and let you speak about Donatella like that! She is a respectful woman who needed a job to support her family! She is simply my housekeeper! This paranoia of yours is completely ridicules! Just because I let someone lady watch over my house while I'm away does not mean I'm having some kind of relationship with her!"
"It's not paranoia! It's the facts! You just got back from your business meeting in Italy, correct? And I'm guessing you made a quick stop by the house before you left, just enough time you grab your things and get to the air port in time. I can still smell her perfume all over you! I've also looked through your files while you were gone, all your 'housekeeper', excluding Naomi, are all under the age of 35 and are all woman with no spouses."
"That doesn't prove anything!"
"It proves everything!"
"I don't have time for this Sherlock; go to bed, or at least to your room. I need my rest for my meeting in the morni-" Elliot said as he tried to make a quick get-away to his bedroom. "You never answered my question..." Sherlock said from the bottom of the staircase.
"Which was!?"
"What happened to Naomi."
Elliot sighed, "Caring isn't an advantage, Sherlock."
"Did you tell Mycroft that?"
"What?" Elliot said turning around. He had in fact said that to Mycroft, more like yelled it at him on his first trip to his father's house after the separation.
"Nothing...Just...Answer my question...About Naomi..."
Mr. Holmes knew about Sherlock's attachment to the old housekeeper. But he'd finally bought a house in America, and Mrs. Clouds made it clear that London was her home and she had no intentions on leaving it.
"I bought a house in America, unfortunately not that one in California like had hoped. It's a beach house in Florida, I did ask Mrs. Clouds about coming there, and I offered her a room and told her that she would be taken care of. But she said that she would much rather stay here in London. I had intended on her to stay on until next week, but apparently she got a job offer and will be starting in a couple of days. Now goodnight Sherlock, there is nothing more to talk about."