Chapter Three - Dinner for - Five?

Three Months Later

"Well Horatio, it's so good to finally meet you," Mary commented. "Caroline's told us so much about you. It feels as though we know you already!"

"And I have heard a great deal about you as well," Horatio smiled back. "It's truly a pleasure to finally meet you both."

Mary grinned at Caroline over the brim of her wine glass; Caroline grinned back over hers.

"So Horatio, Caroline tells us that you work in the museum," John prompted over their dinner once it was brought to them.

"Yes. I know her keen eye when it comes to treasures and artifacts."

"You can thank my father for that," she chimed in.

"I am very thankful for it, for it's not every day I meet a woman so fascinated by such things-" Now it was his turn to smile at her over the brim of his own glass. "-I find it rather attractive."

"Oh!" She laughed and playfully gave a light smack to his arm.

During her next sip, she choked on her wine - Sherlock. He had just entered the restaurant across the room. Undoubtedly, it was him. Oh, no, oh no no no no..."Oh God-" She buried her face in her hands. "What's he doing here?" What the hell was he doing here? was the real question. It was the first time they had seen each other in three months, which, after courting and spending so much time together previously, felt like a lifetime without seeing him - not that she was keeping track or anything like that.

"Are you all right?" Mary asked, laying a supportive hand on her arm.

"Ah, what a coincidence-" He strode over to their table, flashing a smile.

"Holmes," cried Watson.

"Holmes? As in Sherlock Holmes?" asked Horatio. "Well Sir, it is an honour to meet you."

"Oh, please don't encourage him. You weren't invited," Caroline told him.

But he ignored her. "Well, I was going to have a quiet dinner by myself, but now I think I'll join you-" He grabbed an empty chair from a nearby table and squashed it between Caroline and Horatio before plopping himself down and stuffing his napkin down the front of his shirt. "Now, what are we having?"

"You'll have to excuse Mr. Holmes," Caroline told Horatio.

"For what?" asked Sherlock.

"For what? For being the worst dinner guest in history perhaps?"

"He can be a pretty rude guest," John agreed.

"Sherlock, may I see you for a moment?" Caroline requested.

"Yes of course, dear-"

"Alone."

"Even better!"

Suppressing a groan she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away from the table and over to a quiet corner of the restaurant.

Well, she thought it was quiet, however, she barely got a word in before three waiters passed them with trays and they had to duck out of the way. "Oh for God's sake-" She grabbed his sleeve once more and dragged him away.

"What the hell are you doing?" she demanded as soon as they stopped.

"Having dinner."

"Not spying on us?"

He looked at her in mock offence - or perhaps just pure offense. "How could you?"

"How could I?!"

"What would give you that impression?"

"Do you really want me to answer that? You're sure you're not hoping to cause a scene? I know how you just love all the attention."

"Who's the bloke? If anyone's getting all the attention it's him."

"Horatio-"

"Horatio? What a name!" he laughed.

"Says you, 'Sherlock'!" Though she had always liked his name quite a lot. "Horatio is my new beau, and I wanted John and Mary - my friends - to meet him."

"Beau?"

"That's right."

"That seems rather fast, doesn't it?"

She shrugged. "Some may have said the same about us."

"Do you love him?"

A pause. "I find him very agreeable."

"That's not what I asked."

"And what do you care? He is happy to commit and I like that. And we have a lot in common."

"He's utterly boring."

"You barely know him."

"I know enough. You can do much better."

"Oh, what, like you? You don't get to have such an opinion. Besides, as I recall, upon first meeting me, you called me, and I quote: 'plain and dull'."

"Oh, that again?"

"Yes! You broke my heart, Sherlock. Shaming my wants for the future just wasn't good enough for you, was it? You're very good at hurting people, you know, and you really know how to prolong the sting! You know, I think you're jealous - that I have moved on and you haven't! But we already knew that you are rather terrible at getting over a woman! I personally think Horatio and I make a rather smart match. And I want a family, and I'm not getting any younger - some may even say I'm running out of time. It's not all that fair, but I don't have the luxury of waiting around for a prince charming to come along and sweep me off my feet. We make each other happy, and at the very least you could pretend to be happy for me. Now, I suggest you go and have your quiet dinner - by yourself. Good night, Sherlock." With that she stormed away.

She didn't go right back to the table, not right away. She couldn't. No, she needed a moment to herself after all that.

Good God...

Finally, she returned to the table where John and Mary were trying to hold a conversation with Horatio despite the awkwardness of the situation. "My sincere apologies for that."

"Everything all right?" asked Mary.

"Now it is. Oh, thank you, such a dear-" Horatio stood to pull her chair out for her. She sat down and gulped down the rest of her wine in one swig. "Now, where were we? Dessert anyone?"

Yikes, it's going to take them a while to resolve things!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)