Katherine stalked behind her husband as he gracefully skipped down the steps of their home. Her face wasn't happy, nor would any wife's be in her position. Only last night, Jim had turned to her and announced her would be departing at noon the next day...for a fortnight. A nice little travel across the majority of Eastern Europe to meet some of his men deep on the inside of a few select terror groups. It was going to be dangerous, but that wasn't why she was angry. It was because he had been planning the trip for weeks and it had just so happened to slip his mind. So she'd had one evening to prepare for two weeks going solo, leaning of all the plans Moriarty was dropping, meeting she needed to attend and operations which needed confirming.
And she had done it all, sat up until early sunlight with Jim in his office, all while he smirked smugly as her pout. She was so cute sometimes, so precious. So delectably tempting to annoy.
"Do try to behave." She spoke loud enough for him to hear as they both walked towards the front door of the house, Katherine falling slightly behind due to his quick steps.
"It should be me telling you to be good." Jim smiled, suddenly turning so she had to halt before she collided with his chest. Looking down his nose, his smile turned into a snarl all too quickly. "If I find out you call in sick to work, I'll have you for shoes."
"And if I'm good?" Katherine couldn't help but lick her lips. He liked to think he could threaten her, it was cute.
Jim's hand cupped her cheek delicately and he laid a light kiss on her temple, whispering. "I'll bring you back some shoes." His hands fell back to his sides too soon for Katherine's liking and he took a step back to apply his sunglasses. "The Apscot Case moved to Tuesday evening remember. She's not some hot shot stud so dress to not make her envy you too much. Fender is in action come Thursday at 8am, Soho on Sunday at 2pm and Quebec on the following Monday, time to be confirmed." It was all reeled off ever so quickly but she understood every word and nodded seamlessly after each point. Until Jim stopped and raised a brow at her. "You remember what to do for Denver?"
"72-43-16 .wk ." Katherine recalled the instructions without a single fault. She'd done similar work before, many a times over the past three years, and she wasn't stupid.
"Good girl. Just for that I'll make sure to have something sent to you from Poland." He came closer again, showing off his constant hot and cold personality perfectly. With a hand on her hip and another on her her neck, Moriarty's voice dropped low. "Stay out of London. After work come straight home. Don't give me reason to stunt your ability to be mobile."
Katherine didn't move, didn't smile, she didn't really do anything. She just gave one simple nod and then watched in the corner of her eye as Moriarty's driver came to stand just beyond the front door.
"Sir, the car is ready." She didn't want him to leave, she never wanted him to leave. He was the only person she could be herself around. Sebastian was a close second but he would never understand her like Jim did. Without him, she didn't have a life. It was sad and pathetic but he gave her everything and when he left, she was just another one of his agents following instructions. It was only when he was in front of her, she really felt alive.
This was the longest he'd left home without her since the shooting too, not that she was afraid to be alone but... it still didn't feel right to spend so much time alone. Jim leaving also meant one less distraction from the thoughts that still occasionally plagued her mind.
"Stop with the boring puppy look. It doesn't suit you." He pinched her cheek and then gave a genuine grin, as genuine as he could anyway. "Goodbye darling, I'll be in touch." He wouldn't dare say the other words, not when so many of his less trusted men surrounded them.
"See you soon." After the words were spoken, Jim detached from her and turned his back on her. Not once did he glance behind him and wave or wink...not once did he do anything she wanted him too. He just left.
Very soon, a couple of minutes had passed, the car had pulled away and the front door had been closed. But Katherine still stood staring at the door as if he was going to come back, it was all just going to be a big cruel joke of his.
When she came to her senses, the majority of the staff were still standing around her, gawking. All of them awaiting orders she was sure had been given hours ago.
"What are you all standing around for?" She snapped, brush down her already perfect skirts and scowling. As expected, they scuttled away like rats. All but one, the leader of the pack.
"Shouldn't you be going along with him?"
Sebastian came to a stop just centimetres from her side. Hold in his hands behind his back, he gave a small hum of amusement. "After the history of leaving you on your own? He may come across uncaring, but he puts thought into protecting you."
"Uncaring to you..." Katherine rolled her eyes and finally turned away from the door. As she uncrossed her arms she played with the china bangle on her arm, a gift from Jim from one of his travels over a year ago. One of her favourite, with floral patterning. He did care, no matter what people said even him.
"Are you wanting to do anything particular this Sunday afternoon Katherine?" Sebastian once again interrupted her thoughts as he fell into step beside her.
"You heard him, I'm confined to the house. Just ask for a good dinner to be prepared, and ensure no one gets in my way for the remainder of the day." She was tired from the long night and wanted nothing more than to retire back into her silk nightwear, listen to the soft sounds of Rossini with a ice cold glass of gin.
Retreating to the stairs to go back to her room and have a long hot bath, she was grateful when Sebastian separated from her and headed back towards the kitchen. It would be wise for everyone to leave her alone. She was the sole runner of this household for the next two weeks and unlike Moriarty, she paid more attention to people than business.
Hours later, long after the sun had set, Katherine laid out on the Italian sofa with a fourth glass of red wine in hand. She had forced more than half the staff to retire so she could be as alone as possible. All that remained was her guards and Sebastian, both of which were so inconspicuous that if she distracted herself enough then she forget they were there. However with Jim gone, distractions were hard to come by.
But his first text had come sooner after him leaving than she thought. Though it was small and business related...and in reply to impulsive text she had sent him after her bath. She'd still been annoyed and requested into why she hadn't been invited to join him instead of sitting at home. He'd been patient though and answered. Apparently the only reason he hadn't allowed her to tag along was because of Mycroft's stupid little office job, something she wished Jim would so longingly relieve her of. But every time she thought he was about to, a lovely little detective would show his face or some more interesting intelligence would be discovered.
That lovely, little detective.
He was a growing thorn in her side, the spell she just couldn't pick out from under her skin.
He had infected her husbands brain like a plague, a spreading infection which day by day took more and more of Jim's attention away from her. She had thought it was fixed after the shooting. He had been so dedicated to her. But with each step of her recovery, another part of him turned back towards Sherlock. She didn't understand why he was so invested with him, what the fascination was. After all, every time she seen him he was more unbearable than the time before.
Over the past three months, since their last meeting which lasted too long, she had barely been in contact over text with him, plainly because she could bear to. It was irritating and hadn't excited or satisfied her since she first started. She didn't want to converse with the man who slowly stole her husbands attention from her.
But now, she was so bored she'd do anything to distract her from the still, empty house.
Katherine swirled the dangerously overfilled glass of deep red wine in her hand and reached across the plush sofa to retrieve her second phone. It was barely used, but she never failed to keep it charged and by her side to keep Jim happy if he ever asked.
Her short lace night slip rode up ever so slightly as her silk gown opener, flashing her upper thigh. Falling back into the cushion, Katherine held the phone up above her face and opened a new message.
She wanted him to entertain her, because god knows something needed to. It was the first night of fourteen that she was going to be alone through and it was already painful. Mr Holmes would become her distraction, whether he wanted to be or not.
To: Sherlock Holmes
Let's play a game.
K.I.M xx
She didn't know what her game would be. Maybe she would throw his one of the riddles Jim tried to amuse her with ever so regularly. She hated riddles...never had liked them. Each time he 'surprised' her with one it would always end up with her being called stupid because she couldn't solve them within a few minutes. Not that she tried. Normally she would hum and ah until he just gave up and told her.
Ah e she could get Sherlock to feel the same despair, make him so mind numbingly bored that it physically hurt. Katherine smiled thinking of it. She wished she could speak to him away from Mycroft's office and away from all of the hidden identities. As much as she hated to admit it, she had been avoiding him but she was intrigued. Not as much as her husband, but enough just to warrant a small need to get him alone just to see how much he could see when he looked at her. What could his mind do? How did he do it?
But a couple of minutes later, when the phone dinged, her smile turned into a frown.
From: Sherlock Holmes
Busy.
SH
Well...at least he wasn't standing her up completely. It was funny, how after months of practically silence he still replied to her as if they were comrades.
To: Sherlock Holmes
My my, how rude.
K.I.M xx
If he wasn't going to play along then she would retire to bed. Maybe she would try again another night, maybe she would play with him a little more forwardly if he strolled into her office this week. Maybe, just maybe.
Tchaikovsky's Pas d'action Introduction (Andante) and Rose Adagio from the world renowned Sleeping Beauty Ballet played all through the house on the fancy sound system. No matter which room she moved to, the sweet symphony followed her, allowing her steps to follow in time with the orchestra.
She was bored. More bored than...well bored. Jim was away, but while cat was away the mouse wasn't playing. She'd been left with no work now the first week was up. All the jobs had been complete, not even one extra instruction would relieve her from the mind numbing dullness which was her life when Moriarty wasn't strutting around.
Instead, in the morning she traveled into London to sit behind a desk for a few hours and then came home to sit by the fire, drinking wine until it became a respectable time to sleep.
Jims trip was dragging rottenly, he'd only been gone one week but it already seemed like a month. She was on her second bottle of wine of the day, the others from the past week could have build up a small house. She wanted someone, anyone to come entertain her...to come...play with her.
Maybe she could ring Jim? It was reaching 6pm there so it would be later where he was. Maybe he'd be in bed? Maybe he'd appreciate the company...
Just as she went to reach for her phone, the second one resting on the edge of the her chair rattled with vibrations. It was in such a position where she didn't need to pick it up to read. Suddenly, all images of Jim had fallen from her mind and replaced by the tall detective she somewhat missed.
From: Sherlock Holmes
Let's play a game.
SH.
"So now you want to play huh?" Her dark chuckled filled the room as she fell onto her back, carefully as to not spill a drop of the dark red liquid which stained her lips.
He had a nerve. What had he been doing for the past week? What had he been doing just a moment ago to make him think of her, or at least her on screen presence? What had happened? She craved to know but she already knew she would never learn.
To: Sherlock Holmes
I knew you liked me.
K.I.M xx
She dropped the phone on her knee and took a large gulp of wine before turning down the overly sound soundtrack. If she was going to talk to him she needed to be able to concentrate but she also needed something soft running in the background to keep her calm.
The bell sounded and she wanted no time in picking the device up, holding it steady above her face.
From: Sherlock Holmes
20 questions. You can only answer yes or no. I go first.
SH.
Maybe he too was bored? Maybe he was in exactly the same position as her? Sitting alone, at home, on an awfully boring Sunday night just wanting a little company. Maybe he was curious?
With a smirk and a girlish chuckle, Katherine went to type back her agreement to play, but before she could a second message came through from the detective.
From: Sherlock Holmes
Have we met?
SH.
Well wasn't he feeling demanding this evening...First they didn't talk for weeks, then he turns her down and now it seemed he wanted nothing more than to quiz her. It should have made her nervous, it should have caused concern. But she was happy for the distraction, and she was pleased someone other than Sebastian or Jim was reaching out to her.
But she did wish shops could have teased him a bit more than just giving him a simple yes or no.
To: Sherlock Holmes
Yes.
K.I.M xx
She was half tempted to lie...just say no and keep him off the main track to her. He could tell if she was lying through text surely? Never the less, temptation had got the better of her. So she decided to tell the truth for every question. Jim told her he was a harmless pussy cat, if someone was going to come after her then she would prefer it to be him than another one of Jim's contacts. Besides, her husband had told her to make Sherlock want to find her and telling the truth was the only way to make that happen. Besides, the truth was a lot more interesting than some lie.
From: Sherlock Holmes
Recently?
SH.
To: Sherlock Holmes
Yes
K.I.M xx
From: Sherlock Holmes
Do you know me through my work?
SH.
To: Sherlock Holmes
Yes.
K.I.M xx
From: Sherlock Holmes
Are you a client?
SH.
Like she would even need to be one of his clients... No woman needed a detective when she had a consulting criminal sleeping in her bed.
To: Sherlock Holmes
No.
K.I.M xx
From: Sherlock Holmes
Are you a convicted?
SH.
Was that what he called them? The people he found? The people his clients came to home about? Maybe she was a little bit? A target convicted.
To: Sherlock Holmes
No.
K.I.M xx
From: Sherlock Holmes
You've seen my blog.
SH.
Unfortunate the answer to that was yes. One god awful afternoon Jim had shown it to her and scrolled through some of the published articles. She'd nodded and read through the first couple but then she had become bored, and the grin on Jim's face had angered her beyond belief. So she'd distracted him. After that, she vowed to herself to never be involved with 'The Science of Deduction' again.
To: Sherlock Holmes
...Yes and no.
K.I.M xx
From: Sherlock Holmes
You can't use both.
SH.
To: Sherlock Holmes
Then no.
K.I.M xx
She had laid eyes on it but she couldn't recall it. Therefore she would give him false hope in being a fan.
But this was boring, instead of being entertained by Sherlock she was simply answering stupid questions which weren't even interesting. Why did it matter to him if she had seen his blog? Why would that help him? They were useless questions that narrowed nothing down.
They were boring. Sherlock was boring. All he was proving was that he was and always would be boring. No matter what her husband said. Boring. Boring. Boring.
To: Sherlock Holmes
Bored.
K.I.M xx
From: Sherlock Holmes
I still have 14 questions.
SH.
This was happening her way or no way. He didn't reach out to her first, he didn't hold the key, he didn't have a clue. This was her game not his, not matter who had suggested it.
Katherine chewed on her lips as she typed out her repeated message and pressed send.
To: Sherlock Holmes
Bored.
K.I.M xx
What did Jim see in him? What drew him in so much? Yes he was different...he could see things which ordinary people could and she knew how much Jim hates the ordinary people. But he wasn't anything special in Katherine's eyes, not apart from that fact. He was still just a man, who bled and breathed. He had a job, be it a rare one. He had a family and a home...
What did he have that she didn't which attracted her husband so?
From: Sherlock Holmes
Who are you?
SH.
To: Sherlock Holmes
If I told you, what would our game be?
K.I.M xx
From: Sherlock Holmes
You're a woman.
Over 30.
Not single.
Based on the timings of your contacts, you work.
Please stop me if I'm wrong.
SH.
How? How could he know when they had only been texting? A woman and the times she could quite possibly understand, but her age and status, they could have only been lucky guessed. Unless her already knew and that was what had spark his sudden interest. In her excitement of receiving his attention had she made a slip? A slip so possibly even too small for her to tell?
Before she could reply, he sent a following text.
From: Sherlock Holmes
Thought so.
SH.
Her heart was beating at twice its normal rate, her palms becoming sweaty and shaking. It wasn't the end of the world. He hadn't identified her, he still didn't have a name...she was still just writing on the screen which he had only deduced to belonging to the majority of Englands population.
From: Sherlock Holmes
You're English.
We have met but not in an unfamiliar context, meaning you were in disguise.
You were normal. Boring.
Who. Are. You?
SH
He was stuck...he had to be. The additional details in the second text weren't anything too clever, basic analysis of her answers to his previous questions. He still didn't know. It was evident from his protruding frustration in his last question.
To: Sherlock Holmes
You tell me Mr Holmes.
K.I.M xx
With that sent, she threw the phone to the other side of the sofa and with a huff, closed her eyes and fell back against the cushions.
She'd had enough of him for today, game complete or not. She still didn't know how to play him and until she did, she needed to back off.