Chapter twenty: Dear no one

Four months later,

"Tammy!" Sherlock runs into the room, throwing the door open. "Linda's gone!"

"I'm sorry." I groan as I slowly turn onto my side to face my frantic husband. "If I wasn't pregnant, I'd definitely kill you."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." His tone is concerned. "But our daughter is gone. Moreover, when I mean gone, I mean gone. Her clothes, her phone and everything of hers is gone. I've called her phone and there is no reply."

"I see." I pat the edge of the bed. "Sit down." He shakes his head and I tilt my head to the side. "Please?" he groans and does as I ask him. "Lie down with me, and relax."

"I can't!"

"But you're going to do as I say." He makes no comment as he impatiently drums his fingers on his legs. "Now...I knew she was going to leave us last night."

He bolts up and glowers at me. "You what?!"

I groan and close my eyes. "You're in bed with your pregnant wife who hasn't completely woken up yet, so don't you shout at me."

"Sorry." He flops down on the bed again. "But how did you know? Did she tell you?"

"No, but it was fairly obvious in her mannerisms last night Sherlock. How could you miss it? She hugged us longer than normal and had a very sweet speech about us being wonderful parents and how she'll always be grateful to us for everything we did for her and gave her."

"She didn't even say goodbye."

"Would you have let her go if she'd said goodbye?"

"No." He mumbles.

"Exactly. She is your daughter Sherlock. You left your parents and didn't leave them a kind word." I lean over and kiss his cheek. "She did you a courtesy by leaving on a note like that. You have to let her go."

"I can't. I don't even know where she is!"

"Now I forbid you and the boys to look for her or anything. I insist Sherlock. You can activate her phone to track it, but that is all!"

He glowers at me. "Tammy, she's my princess. I can't just let her walk out of here!"

"You can and you will. You've trained our daughter to be some sort of agent; she can take care of herself Sherlock." He sulks and I kiss him. "Now...either get my cocoa, or," I smirk flirtatiously. "you could get those clothes of yours off and have some tender and easy, wake-up, morning sex with me."

Sherlock snaps his head to look at me with surprise in his eyes. "I cannot believe you just said that to me. A very tempting offer Tammy." He exhales and folds his hands over the back of his head. "I don't feel like it right now." I pull my nightdress completely over my head before rolling over to straddle his waist. His eyes twitch for a few seconds. "But…I guess I could be persuaded into changing my mind." I lean forward and kiss him on the mouth, running my tongue over his lips. He groans as he wraps his arms around my waist. "I cannot believe that I married such a sex addict, especially when you're pregnant." He flips me gently onto my back. "And I have no intention of stopping your addiction."

I laugh lightly as I run my hand though his hair. "Sherlock, I never married you for sex. I married you for love," I stretch upwards and kiss him on his lips. "and you're a great love maker."

Linda's POV,

I had made the decision that once my arm had healed completely I would move out. I had an ugly scar on my arm and outside of occasional twinges of pain, I was fine. It was hard going from a loud and noisy family to a quiet apartment building. I had changed my phone number, so no unwanted people could just pop into my life. I emailed my parents immediately after I'd left so they wouldn't worry. Father wanted me to get back home at once and mother refused to hear of it. She said I could come home when I wanted; after all, I was an adult and entitled to live my own life. She just wished that I had consulted them instead of uncle Mycroft. Uncle Mycroft was not as bad as he appeared, but my parents just never really bonded with him.

Uncle Mycroft was very helpful to me and I believe he secretly favored me over all the siblings. He had changed my identity to Linda Mavis and had given me a few references with a few of his friends. He'd also found a nice place that was hiring, the Moonlight Sonata club. It was a fancy restaurant and I was the only woman who chose to wear a dress in an alternative to the pant outfit. I shouldn't, but I actually loved being a server. It was fun deducing people and meeting all sorts of people. I hadn't made many friends; most of the women didn't want anything to do with me. All the men, well….I wasn't interested in anyone yet. However, I'd be lying if I said that none of them appeared to be interested in me. But once I reported one man to the manager, they all stayed away from me.

It four o clock in the morning and I had been asked to do an overnight shift to help them clean up because they were short handed. I was tired and somewhat pensive as I walked towards the exit. As I entered the entertainment room, my eyes landed on the black piano.

It called to me, so I walked up to it, laying my coat on the lid. I smiled as I sat down on the piano bench and carefully roll the key cover back. I can't play the piano, outside of Luke Skywalker's theme on the piano. But I haven't played that in a while, so I sit down and attempt to refresh my memory on the theme. I make several mistakes, but I listen by ear and correct my mistakes.

"If you'd wanted to hear a song," my head jerks up at the sound of a man's voice. He's an average looking guy, nothing striking about him, in comparison to Matthew and David. He wears glasses with thick lenses. The one thing in his favor is the dark hazel eyes, very nice to look at. His dark hair, is sticking up like David Tennant's in an irate Doctor Who moment, letting me know that he's run his hands through his hair mere moments ago. "you could have requested it."

I stand up, bringing the lid down. "I'm sorry. I-I didn't know anyone was here."

"Obviously." He set his coat down on the lid of the piano."So, you're obviously a beginner."

"Yes, I'm afraid that my parents are the only ones with musical talents in the family. My mother plays the piano and father would often accompany her with his violin."

He nods. "What about you?"

I shrug. "I'm not so musically inclined."

"but you appreciate music, I can tell, I can see it in your eyes." He leans forward and studies me. "Can you sing?"

"My mother says I can, but I doubt it. Parents are often prejudice towards their children."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?" he opens up the piano seat and pulls out several pieces of sheet music. "You can read music I assume?"

"Yes, I do." I look at the title of one of the songs. "But I don't need to, I know this song."

He frowns as he glances at it. "Well, I don't, I was just informed that it would be good to add it to my repertoire."

"It's a good song. 'Dear no one,' I like it."

"I like it too. I just can't play it from memory yet."

He opens up the sheet music to finally prompt me to comment. "Here you are, practically offering me music lessons and I don't even know your name."

"Uhh, right, sorry. It's Clark Kent." He says as he offers me his hand. "And no…I'm not a superman fan, I'm more the Batman type. My parent's just could come up with anything more imaginative than Clark."

"I actually like it." I smile. "I love Superman, he's my favorite super hero if I had to pick one."

"Interesting. Do you have a favorite superman or are they all alike to you?"

"Christopher Reeve. For me, he was Superman, on and off the screen."

"I see. What key do you sing in?"

"You tell me, I don't know."

He shrugs. "Believe me, I will." He begins playing and nods at me. But just as I drew a breath, he stopped playing. "You know, I don't know your name either."

I laugh lightly. "It's Linda Mavis."

He nods. "Nice to meet you."

That said, he resumes playing the piano. I inhaled and began to sing that beautiful song. I like being independent. Not so much of an investment. No one to tell me what to do. I like being by myself. Don't gotta entertain anybody else.
No one to answer to. I risk a glance at Clark, to find him totally immersed in his piano playing. As far as he was concerned, I was merely just standing there. But sometimes, I just want somebody to hold. Someone to give me their jacket when its cold. Got that young love even when we're old. They lyrics, as always caused tears to fill my eyes. I did want all those things, but at this point in my life, it was not meant to be. Yeah sometimes, I want someone to grab my hand. Pick me up, pull me close, be my man. I will love you till the end.

So if you're out there I swear to be good to you. But I'm done lookin', for my future someone. Cause when the time is right. You'll be here, but for now. Dear no one, this is your love song. I looked down at clark, to find him still concentrating deeply on the notes in front of him. The ground could open and he probably only notice one he realized that I'd stopped singing. I don't really like big crowds. I tend to shut people out. I like my space, yeah. But I'd love to have a soul mate. God will give him to me someday and I know it'll be worth the wait.

"Hey!" We both jump and look up to see the manager standing there. "As entertaining as this sounds, we are closed for now! You two need to head home!"

"Yes sir!" Clark says as he lowers the piano lid. I watch him as he studies the music for a moment, and then he looks up at me. "And you're here working as a waitress for what reason?"

"Because I like it."

"Then you're a idiot." My eyes widen in indignation at his words. He actually appears to be angry with me. "I'm sorry to say it, but you are. You've got this….great voice and you're wasting it! Look, I'd be willing to coach you at night and give you lessons."

I shake my head. "That's very kind of you but….I actually…want to keep a low profile."

"You're running from something." My mouth drops open in surprise at the calm tone in his voice. I move away from him and reach for my coat. I start to pull it on when he grabs a hold of my wrist.

"Let go of me."

"If you promise not to run off until I've finished talking to you."

"I can't promise anything."

"Right." He reaches for his coat, briefcase and his hat. He releases his arm and steps alongside me. "Look, I've seen this before. If it's an ex-boyfriend or irate husband, you can always go to the police."

I exhale and shake my head. 'You're really nosy."

"Ever know a piano player that wasn't?"

I snort. "I've never met one before, you're the first." I shift my purse over my shoulder and pause to allow him to open the door for me. He pauses and studies me for a moment. "What?"

"So…are you interested in learning the piano?"

I hesitate. "I'd really love to, but…I'm honestly not worth wasting the time and money on."

"Fine. And you're sure that you don't want to try singing once in a while."

"I have no problem with once in a while, but….I'm honestly running from more than two ex-boyfriends."

His brows arch. "Two?"

"Well, technically one. One was a super rat and the other vanished off the face of the earth. My whole family," I shake my head as I run a finger over my brow. "I don't even know why I'm telling you all this."

"Because I asked." He studies me. "Do you want to get a drink or something?"

I frown. "You know a place that's still open?"

He nods. "Yes. In fact," he glances at his watch. "if we hurry, we can just make it in time. So, how about it? And I should probably add that this is not a date, its business."

I nod. "All right. But just this once."

"Definitely this once."