Mycroft and Tara lay in bed. Mycroft could hear the wind chimes on Tara's window and the birds chirping away. Tara was sleeping soundly in his arms, her head on his shoulder and her silky-smooth hair tickling his neck and chest. Mycroft ran his fingers through her hair. Tara moaned and stirred awake. She woke up to Mycroft staring at her face.
She smiled at him. 'You look so pretty' she whispered with a coy smile.
Mycroft chuckled 'Good, I woke up early to put my makeup on' She let out a soft laugh at that. 'Just kidding. I did do my hair, though' he joked again.
'My, My, Mycroft Holmes joking. Are you sick? Did someone slip you a magic potion?' she teased and touched his forehead.
Catching her hand in his, he pulled her close. 'Yes. I think it's a witch called Tara Matthews' he played along.
'Dear Lord! What have I done to you?' she smiled, stroking his chin with her thumb.
'You made me happy' he told her, stroking his thumb against her cheek
'You made me happy too' she smiled.
'Oh, Dear God! What is happening?' Mycroft grimaced.
'This just got way too cheesy' Tara laughed and Mycroft joined. Tara was happy to see him laugh like that, let his heart out, and relax. Especially after how difficult the holidays had been for him. After their laughter died down, Tara smiled at him 'Hey, you want to go paragliding with me next weekend?' she asked all of a sudden.
'Isn't life enough of a thrill for you?' he asked.
'Obviously not, I am dating you' she teased.
'Speaking of, there is something we need to talk about' he said, turning on his side to face her.
'Nothing good ever happens after that sentence' she sighed and fell on her back. 'I knew this was too good to be true' she muttered more to herself than him.
Mycroft huffed a laugh. 'It's nothing like that. I am just going away for a while' He assured her.
'So, this is goodbye, huh?' she asked.
'I'll be back soon enough.' He reassured her and caressed her cheek.
'Can you tell me where you're going?' she asked with childlike enthusiasm.
'No' Mycroft smiled in amusement.
Tara pouted and asked 'Why are you going?'
'I need to put out some diplomatic fires' he said vaguely
'Hhmmmnn. Boring. When will you be back?'
'I don't know. Might take a while' he told her in disappointment.
'Well, you will be missed' she said with a smile.
Mycroft smiled and pressed a kiss against her forehead.
...
Each day that passed they learned something new about each other. And they knew they had so many more layers to uncover. That was the best part of their relationship. Mycroft loved to discover new things about her that weren't in her file. Only in those moments, it felt like they had a normal relationship. He loved the way she would light up when she saw him like he was the only man in the world. He loved how he could never intimidate her no matter how much he tried. How his perfectionism almost never irritated her. He loved the way she didn't fuss over his quirks and kinks and how she was always respectful of his rules. That did not mean she agreed to everything he did. No, she stood her stand when she had to and he admired that. She knew how important his job was and that it required a level of secrecy most people didn't agree with. But she understood and was respectful of the level of secrecy he maintained. She liked being a part of his world and he liked being a part of hers.
Tara sat in her living room, tallying her accounts when her phone started ringing. She smiled and brought the phone to her ear.
'Miss me?'
She smiled at the smooth voice in her ear. 'Maybe a little' she said flatly.
'What's it been, 15 hours?' Mycroft asked, relaxing on the bed. He grunted, he was exhausted and his body ached.
'Not even long enough to notice you're gone' she said and sat back in her chair.
'Tell that to the people I am working with.' He sighed.
She chuckled. 'How's it coming?' she asked, sensing the strain in his voice.
'It's coming. Slowly. Painfully.' He complained
'Aww, you poor thing. When will you get back?' she asked.
'I don't know. Might take longer than I thought' he exhaled. The situation was more severe than he had expected, negotiations were not going smoothly.
'Mycroft, are you okay?' she finally asked him.
'Just a little tired' he said reluctantly
'Well, then go get some sleep' Tara told him.
'No, I am talking to you' he refused. He wouldn't admit it but he missed his baker.
'It's alright, Mycroft. Get some rest' she assured him.
'Good night' he said tiredly
'Good night, Mycroft'
...
Mycroft and Tara had an unspoken rule in their relationship, she would only call him if it was an emergency or something urgent needed to be conveyed otherwise she would text. She didn't want to disturb him. This was in spite of the fact that Mycroft almost never texted.
Mycroft's phone beeps in the middle of his meeting. He ignores the judgemental looks he is getting from everyone in the room and picks up his phone.
68 hours, 23 minutes, 11 seconds- TM
Explain- MH
Since we last spoke- TM
Sorry about that -MH
Foreign diplomats chew off your brain yet? -TM
Trust me they are very close. -MH
Are you busy? -TM
Work -MH
Can you talk? -TM
Not right now. In the middle of something- MH
What could possibly be more pressing than me? -TM
You're unstoppable. Aren't you? -MH
Unstoppable...You haven't even seen me start yet. -TM
I can't even imagine. -MH
I bet you can.π-TM
You're having eggplant for dinner.? I thought you hated eggplant- MH
Tara laughed out loud at her 'partner's' lack of knowledge in sexting, making Grace jump and look at her with wide eyes. Tara smiled sheepishly and looked away to hide her blush.
God, I miss you- TM
Did I miss the context of your text again? - MH
Yesπ- TM
π- MH
π-TM
A small smile crosses Mycroft's face and he puts away his phone. He looks up at his colleagues giving him a confused look and his face goes back to its old stone-cold self.
...
It's morning rush hours. Customers are flooding the bakery. Tara and Grace have a system in place. Tara fills their orders and Grace handles all the checks. Customers stand in line and wait for their turn. One by one they come in, tell their order to Tara, she fills and slides it over Grace who takes money and gives them their orders. It was a very efficient system, at least on most days.
Tara slides the order to Grace and waits for her next customer's order. She is so busy she barely even looks up sometimes. To her surprise instead of the usual ordering, this customer greets her. 'Hello!' he said.
Tara looks up at the tall, well-dressed man with a neatly trimmed beard. He has long salt and pepper hair, tied neatly in a ponytail. His style is impeccable. 'Hello! What can I do for you, sir?' she smiles.
'I feel like I know you from somewhere' he smiled politely at her.
She tried to remember him, but nothing came. 'I am sorry, Sir, I don't recognize you.'
'You sure? Your face looks so familiar' he asked again.
'Ummm... Yes' she answered him doubtfully. She would've remembered such style, it's not something one can easily forget.
'Well, I am probably mistaken then. Don't let me bother you. I'll take a slice of the blueberry cheesecake and be out of here' he places his order like everybody else and walks to Grace at the cash register. Grace notices the exchange between Tara and the man. She eyed the man nervously before taking the money and handing him his order. He grinned at them before leaving. Both the women shrugged it off as another awkward encounter at the bakery. God knew they had all kinds of weird encounters at work. All kinds of weird customers. This was just one of them.
...
