The Unwanted Advance: A Chat Over Coffee

I do not own this show at all. Now that that is out of the way please enjoy the story.

His talk with Sherlock's wife John hadn't left Andersons mind. He'd been thinking about what she said and it had worked a bit, not as much as he would have hoped, but it was a start. Talking with his wife had made her realize that maybe they weren't doing as well as they had been and suddenly he no longer felt like he was in a barren desert with no oasis in sight. His wife had seen his attempt to explain things from his point of view positively and things had taken a slight turn for the better.

"Hello Philip." John said as she stood in line behind him again her eyes focused on the menu.

"Hello John." He gave a smile that was just slightly awkward after all she was married to Sherlock and he still hadn't wrapped his mind around that.

She smiled back though hers wasn't tinged with the same awkwardness his was. "How are things?"

Anderson raised an eyebrow but answered her question. "Getting better."

He inspected the menu trying to prevent himself from embarrassing himself further. If word got out that he'd tried to pull Sherlock's wife he'd probably die of embarrassment or by enraged consulting detective. It seemed however that he was indeed the idiot Sherlock had so often accused him of being. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

Anderson looked down at the ground a bit of a blush beginning to form from embarrassment. "Stay married to Sherlock?"

She chuckled. "Figured it out then?"

He nodded seeing no reason to deny it. "He doesn't seem the type to have any kind of relationship. So how are you two together?"

She shrugged as though she didn't understand it much either. "We make it work. He brings out the best parts of me and I bring out the best in him and it also works in reverse where we bring out the worst in each other. Never play Cluedo with Sherlock by the way." She said with a slight laugh and Anderson tried to imagine playing Cluedo with Sherlock and the image his mind cooked up was horrific.

The line was short so he was interrupted by the cashier demanding his order. He gave it and paid for it with a scowl and John ordered hers and the let the queue move along. They stood waiting for their orders and the conversation ceased as they listened for their respective orders. Philip got his cup and took the same window seat he'd sat at earlier and he was surprised when John slid into the seat across from him with a cuppa tea.

"Aren't you afraid of being caught with a known cheater?" Anderson sneered halfheartedly. He wasn't stupid enough to truly insult Sherlock's wife, not with the possible retaliation he'd get for it.

She laughed. "You have met Sherlock right?"

He shrugged if Sherlock could tell that he was cheating with Sally there was no reason he wouldn't know if John cheated on him. "I have and I still don't know how you put up with him."

She shook her head. "He's not as horrible as you people seem to think he is. He just doesn't have a lot of patience for what he considers to be stupidity. I can see why you'd say that but he makes me feel alive and I'm never bored."

They shared a laugh that quickly dried out when Anderson frowned into his coffee. "Sylvia used to do the same for me but now it feels like we don't even enjoy each other anymore. She's always too busy or I'm too busy, we never spend any time together, and it's becoming more and more obvious that we're drifting apart."

She nodded as though she understood what he was saying and seeing the way that Sherlock and John had acted when he'd seen them he didn't believe she did. "I used to have a similar problem with Sherlock. He's not the most romantic man to begin with and I was always more interested in the physical side of things than he was. In the end I had to talk to him about how I felt and I made it clear that I didn't feel happy. It wasn't easy, we had our share of fights and all that but we made it. I'm sure you and Sylvia could make it too if you work at it."

Anderson laughed bitterly into his drink. "How though, most days she won't even look at me anymore?"

"I'd let go of Sally if I were in your shoes." John said ignoring Anderson's shocked expression.

"What why?" Anderson asked his face twisting in confusion.

"If you want to work things out with your wife cheating on her isn't going to help. It's best to admit that you've done wrong by her and tell her that you want to work things out with her. If you try and fix things while holding onto Sally it's not going to end well for you or your wife. The one question you have to answer is if you had to pick right now between them who would you spend the rest of your life with?" John went to take a sip of her tea but there was nothing left in the small cup.

"Sylvia of course." Anderson said like there was no other answer.

"Then that's who you need to focus on. All Sally is to you is a distraction and all she's going to do in the long run is drag down your marriage. You need to come clean if you want things between you and your wife to get better. You say you'd choose her over Sally then prove it. If you and Sylvia can make it you don't need another woman. If Sally is persistent or if you find yourself tempted transfer somewhere else, it will help and it might prove to your wife that you are serious about this." She said before she stood and walked away.

"Just think about it Phillip." She said before she left the café.

Anderson frowned as he saw Sally at the crime scene. It was now or never. He walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Can I talk with you for a moment?"

She looked at him with a coy smile and walked over to him putting an extra sway in her hips hoping that he was going to invite her over. "Is your wife gone tonight?"

"No Sally, I have something I need to talk to you about." Anderson said looking like he was about to pass out from nerves. He looked at her face noting that her expression was rapidly changing from interested to confused. "I think we should stop seeing each other."

Sally froze the confused look instantly replaced by a look of anger. "What!"

"I'm not saying that I don't like you anymore Sally, but I love Sylvia and I want to make things right with her. How can I do that if I'm still seeing you behind her back?"

"You love her, you jump at the chance to spend the night with me and you suddenly decide that you love her! I thought that you were going to leave her!"

"I was never going to leave her Sally not unless she decided to end it and I don't want that to happen. I talked with Sherlock's wife John and she helped me see that my issues with Sylvia aren't going to go away if I keep running to you. I'm sorry Sally but it's over." Anderson said feeling like he was just standing in front of a speeding train waiting to get hit.

The sound of a slap resonated through the crime scene and Anderson held his face where a red mark was showing. Sally fumed as she looked at him and he could almost picture cartoon steam coming out of her nose and felt like every eye on the crime scene was on them, but at the moment sally could care less. The only thing she cared about was just how angry she was at Anderson.

"If you're breaking up with me the least you can do is tell me the truth. Sherlock's wife? A woman named John? How much of an idiot do you think I am? You know what I don't even care. I'm leaving you and I want you to know that we will never be happening ever again! So next time she rejects you don't you dare come back." Sally said with a snarl before stormed off with as much pride and dignity as she could manage. She didn't get far before she started muttering under her breath about Anderson and destroying everything of his that he'd left at her flat.

Thank yous to everyone, who read, reviewed, followed, and/or favorited. Special thanks to an annyonomous reviewer for the prompt. I'll need a bit of time to think on the translation thing so while I don't have an answer now I will have one eventually. The people that Lestrade didn't know in the last chapter are members of both of their families and I forgot to add this earlier but in 22 I'm sure Mycroft understood what he was implying when he said that.