I realise this isn't the best chapter. But the first part is to help me set up something I have in mind for a future chapter. Also I still have no idea whether to start a new story or continue in this one for season two? Thank you to the two people who answered my question from the last chapter though.

Unfortunately, this is my last update from lockdown. The company I work for have decided to give us not a lot of notice so I'm back on Friday instead of the 29th. I'm determined to do at least two chapters a month to keep this story (and my other ones) going.

The moment of truth had arrived. Or at least, one of them.

Roid was stood in her doorway, waiting for her to turn her attention onto him.

His foot was tapping away on the floor with his impatience and with every tap tap tap that sounded, Emily felt a sense of satisfaction for making him wait. She thought about taking her time finishing up the last pieces of paperwork sitting on her desk, but didn't particularly want the man being in her proximity any longer than necessary.

So, with an inaudible gulp of air to hopefully give her strength, she came to a convenient stopping point and turned to face him. "You wanted to talk to me Mr Roid?" She asked as politely as her gritted teeth allowed her.

She moved back as much as she could with the little room that remained as he moved closer to her. "I have a proposition for you Emily." Oh god She thought, He's finally attempting to make a move. Please don't shut the door! He moved back and closed the door, Emily squeezed her eyes closed and wished someone would knock on it so he could open it back up again. "Now, you 've been with us for - "

"I'm sorry," She interrupted. She couldn't stand it and had to say something so she wouldn't think about it the whole time he was talking to her, "Would you mind opening the door again please?" He raised an eyebrow and looked as if he was about to protest. "I'm just feeling a bit warm in here today. It can be a bit stuffy sometimes." She explained. She felt relieved when he nodded and opened it again, though his actions were hesitant. She had never felt so pleased to be able to see the corridor. "Thank you." It wasn't as if she wouldn't put up a fight if he did lay a finger on her. It's just that she didn't particularly want to lose her job over it. She really couldn't be bothered to look for a new one.

"Now, as I was saying, you've been with us for a good while now and we'd like to give you the opportunity to move up in the world." His smelly breath was giving her trouble inhaling, but she risked it to speak.

"Oh, I didn't think there was any further promotion with this job?" Not that she wanted one. She was content in her tiny office. Somewhat.

"There technically isn't. But myself and a few other members of staff have noticed how well you're doing," (Clearly a lie as Emily had never seen anyone with any higher authority than Roid before, apart from passing in the corridors or perhaps in the canteen. Even then, none of them had batted an eyelid at her.) "and believe that you should be given a few more responsibilites. With a small rise in pay, of course."

"What kind of responsibilities?" She wondered if the girl who had covered her for the previous two days had been given the same opportunities or if this really was all a load of rubbish.

"Well, for a start, when we have the weekly meetings we need someone to write the minutes down - "

"I'm not any good at keeping up when people are talking. At least not in that setting."

"Practice Emily, it comes with practice." He waved his hand, throwing away her worry as if it was nothing. "It would only be when the usual girl isn't working. We could have you shadow her if you like? And then you could go on the reception desk as well if and when the normal staff can't come in."

"I don't particularly want to work on reception, Mr Roid. If I did, I would have applied for a receptionist job."

"We think you should be trained for it none the less - "

"What if I don't want to? What if I say no?" He spluttered as if the notion hadn't occurred to him.

"Well, of course you can say no." He was talking to her chest now, "We wouldn't...force you into anything," She noticed the man began to fidget and suddenly she wanted nothing more than to go home and tell him to stuff the added responsibilities. And her own job, she'd find another one somewhere.

She turned back round to face her desk and continued with her work as if she had never been interrupted. "I'll think about it Mr Roid, but you'll more than likely have to hire someone else if you want someone as a spare. Wouldn't want to get behind in here now would I?"

"Well no, but - "

"Thank you Mr Roid, you can shut the door on your way out." She snapped.

"But you just said you were too hot." He complained.

"Well, now I'm too cold. Freezing in fact. Please close the door, I need to conserve the heat." She had stood up and moved towards him slowly. She must have startled him, for instead of remaining where he stood and allowing her to get close to him, he inched backwards until he was no longer in the office and made sure to close the door as gently as possible.

Emily sat back down and found she was trembling slightly. She eyed the chocolate bar that lay in the corner of her desk. Maybe she just needed some sugar? She hadn't managed much breakfast and she'd still felt hungry after the small sandwich she'd attempted at lunch time. But the thought of eating made her feel unwell. She knew it was just her nerves getting the better of her. She hadn't needed Roid to come in and add to her stresses.

What on earth was he thinking, wanting to give her more responsibilites? A nasty thought suddenly crept into her mind. The more she thought about it, the more it grew and nagged at her; What if he's only offering those things to get closer to you? The man is disgusting enough.

She released a shaky breath, running her hands over her hair. She neeeded a hairwash. Maybe she could have a bath this evening before bed, let herself relax a little. Yes. Maybe she would see if Mrs Hudson had any bubble bath she could add to the water. She hadn't had one of those in so long. It would do her good. Just the thought of the hot, steamy water made her relax a little.

She clamped her lips together in order to try and supress a yawn. She hadn't managed to get into bed at a decent hour the previous night thanks to Sherlock calling Lestrade.

The trio had had to wait while the actual Police did their jobs at the scene. Emily had spent most of that time sat on a set of stairs reading her book that Sherlock had left money for (after an argument that he didn't actually need to buy it for her, she could just read it, finish it and put it back on the shelf before they left) and munching on a bag of maltesers from the vending machine in the cafe. (Sherlock had also bought them for her in the hopes of keeping her quiet. It had worked.) She could watch everything that was going on between pages, but she couldn't hear the discussions going on.

Eventually they had been given the all clear to head home and she had found herself leaning on the Detective in her tiredness. The fresh air between the taxi and their front door had awoken her slightly, but she had mumbled a goodnight to the boys, headed up to her room, got changed into her pyjamas, opened her new book up to the page she had reached at the Planetarium and instantly fallen asleep before she could start the next chapter. She had slept so deeply that she had awoken that morning to find the book still on her face almost giving her a panic attack.

A hot, steamy bubble bath and an early night to catch up on her sleep. What a wonderful idea.

"Is Molly in today?" She had entered the morgue in the hopes of seeing her friend and asking her what she thought of Roid's idea but had been thwarted at the sight of someone she'd never met before. His red hair and blue eyes were striking and Emily found herself wishing she'd already washed her hair.

"Sorry, not today." He told her, looking up from the clipboard he was holding. "Anything I can help with?" He sent her a friendly grin.

"Oh, no, Just wanted to have a chat with her really. Nothing work related." Sort of. "Didn't know it was her day off."

"It wasn't. She messaged to say she couldn't come in today is all."

"Oh. Is she ok - sorry, it's not really any of my business. I'll just - " She moved to leave the room but he called her back.

"She didn't actually say why. Just that she couldn't come in today and that she'd cover one of my shifts later in the month." He shrugged. "I just assumed it was family related and she didn't want to talk about it."

"Ok, thanks." She hadn't been friends with the woman long, so she had no idea if this was normal behaviour for her, but Emily got the feeling that Molly didn't usually do things like this.

"I can pass on a message?" He watched her, concern written on his features. Apparently Emily looked worried, she certainly felt it.

"Oh, no, that's ok. I can just send her a text." She waved him off and opened the door. "Thanks again."

"I'm Matthew." She paused mid step. "By the way."

"I'm Emily." She smiled back to him.

"I know." She raised an eyebrow, "I mean - Molly talks about you sometimes. And she's pointed you out in the canteen before." If that was the case, then why hadn't Molly pointed him out to her before?

"Oh." She really had no idea how to leave this situation. She didn't want to be rude, he'd been nothing but kind to her, but she also felt a little light headed and the image of the chocolate bar on her desk was suddenly calling to her.

"Are you alright?" He took a step closer, but she waved him off again.

"I'm fine. Just need a drink. I should get back to work." She pointed down the corridor, (the wrong direction) and continued moving backwards so she could still look at his face. "Come by sometime if you like?"

"Yeah," His reply was instant. "Yeah, ok." She sent him a wave and headed in the direction she thought took her back to her office. Only to have to do the awkward gesture of pointing the other way when she had to double back on herself.

Only when she had sat back down and unwrapped the Mars bar, taking a bite that was far bigger than she could actually fit in her mouth, did she bang her head against the desk. Attempting to slowly chew on the treat in her mouth.

Was it home time yet?

The only highlight of her day had been when Mike had popped in for a quick chat. She had literally snatched his hand and dragged him into her office, giving him her chair so she could lean on the desk and explain what had happened with Roid. Mike too, felt uneasy at what she had been offered and told her not to give him any answers just yet. That he would see if he could do any digging and find out if the offer was genuine or if the man was just attempting to make some sort of move. He'd tried his best to put a smile on her face, and for a while it had worked. He'd even spent his break and eaten his lunch in there with her and together the two had talked non stop until he had announced he had to get back to work.

She had thanked him and waved him off from the doorway, receiving some odd looks from the other staff members that were passing, but at that moment she hadn't cared.

It had taken a grand total of nine minutes for her lifted spirits to be shaken however. She heard her phone go off and, thinking it would be John giving her an update on the case, immediately retrieved it from her coat pocket.

It wasn't John.

It was a text from her Mother asking where she had got to the other day and could she come over this minute, she needed to talk to her.

She opted to ignore it and continue with her work; grateful when a fresh pile of papers were bought in for her. The busier she was now, the quicker it would be time to go home.

Emily had barely paused for breath by the time she had finished for the day, so was unsurprised when she realised she needed to use the facilities. Thankfully, she had had no more visits from anyone and so her mood had stayed somewhat lifted. She checked the time on her watch as she walked back down the corridor to her office, noting that she only had twenty minutes left before she could leave. She came to a sudden stop however when she got to her door.

She had left it closed. She was sure of it. It had been a habit now since that postcard on the top of the pile to close the door when she wasn't in the room.

So why was it ajar now?

Cautiously, she opened it further in case whoever had opened it was still inside. But she was, thankfully, met with an empty room. Everything was where she had left it.

Still, sitting back down made her feel uncomfortable and with the fact that she had finished everything she needed to do for the day, she knew those twenty minutes would crawl by.

She opted to begin getting ready to leave and slipped her coat on, checking her phone to find numerous text messages from her Mother (each one seemed to become increasingly more angry) a couple from John (asking her if she would mind doing the shopping since he would be going to Sarah's and updating her on the case) and one from Sherlock (Asking her what she thought of the Jeremy Kyle show. She really wished John hadn't introduced him to daytime television). She replied to both her flatmates, sent one off to Molly asking if she was alright and decided it would be quicker just to ring her Mother.

The ringing sound went on until she got through to leaving a message. It wasn't until this happened a third time that she gave up and went to put her phone back in her pocket. But something was stopping it sitting nicely in its place and, confused, Emily reached her hand into the space. Her fingers felt paper. She wasn't sure how she had missed it when getting the device though she reasoned she was distracted thinking about the door being ajar. It was a sticky note neatly folded in half and her confusion only grew when she opened it up. Only one word had been written.

Soon.

The writing didn't look familiar, but what did it mean? The sticky note itself was not from her office. The paper was orange and she didn't know anyone in the building that had orange sticky notes.

The image of Jim the last time she had seen him in the flesh exploded into her mind, but she quickly pushed it away. She was not going to think of Jim anymore. At least, not today anyway.

She checked her watch one last time. She had only managed to kill six minutes but the note was enough to send her moving quickly off the chair and out of the room again.

Should she go and bother Mike for ten minutes or just head home? She desperately wanted to leave the building and the day behind, but what if Roid went to bother her again? What if she was needed?

Oh, screw it. She thought to herself. She crumpled the note and shoved it back in a pocket. I've done all my work today, I have every right to leave a few minutes early. Maybe.

She worried whether or not she had made the right decision all the way back to the underground.

She had just reached the safety of Baker Street when her phone rang.

She had been so close to getting home, she would have set off in a desperate sprint had she not been wearing her work heels.

With the ringing of the phone, came the memory of John asking her to go shopping. She looked at the front door next to Speedy's longingly and reluctantly turned back around to go shopping. She swiped across the screen and held it to her ear without thinking.

"John, I've just remembered you asked me to get supplies so I'm on my way now. Did I put that list we made back in my pocket or yours?" She struggled, but managed to rifle through her pockets. "John?" She had received no reply, there was nothing but silence from the other end. Unless he was whispering and in that case she had no chance of hearing him thanks to the noise of the London traffic. "Hello?" Only now did she pull the device away from her ear and checked who had called her.

It was her Mother.

She sighed and put it back against the side of her head. "Now isn't a good time. I have to go shopping. Did you not get the hint when I never replied to you today?" Again, she was only greeted with silence. "Are you even there?" Her Mother usually kept her phone in her back pocket leading Emily to a thought; "Have your arse cheeks accidentally managed to phone me? I'm talking to your backside aren't I? For God's sake - " She heard an intake of breath. She was sure of it. "Hello?" She stopped walking, people angrily bumping into her as they continued on their way. She paid them no mind as she forced herself to listen more closely. "You weren't there yesterday." She tried again, her voice quieter in case she decided to talk at the same time. "Why should I come this time?" She moved over to the wall, out of the way of people and slightly further away from the traffic. With a finger in her other ear, she turned the volume up. She couldn't decide if she was more angry of worried. "If I turn up again, are you going to be there?" The line went dead and Emily was left irritated. She called her back up.

"We're sorry; you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service -"

Emily felt her skin prickle with goosebumps as she hung up and with one last yearning look in the direction of home she made her way back to the underground, sending a text to John telling him she had to pop somewhere before she could do anything else. She didn't bother to elaborate, but she also didn't want an annoyed John telling her off if he got home to find an empty fridge.

This time, the hallway was dark. As she closed the door behind her, Emily reached out for the lightswitch and slipped her heels off. Only to find it wasn't working. She used the light on her phone instead and began to move forwards slowly to the kitchen. The light didn't work in there either. Or the living room. Had her Mother been paying the bills? I was a miracle she could still afford to. Perhaps the phone line had been cut off too?

Emily moved back to the hallway and over to the small table that they had kept the landline phone on. She pressed the numbers in the order of her number, but nothing happened. She placed it back in its cradle but became distracted by the pile of sticky notes located just inches away in case either of them had needed to write notes down.

The pile consisted of all the bright colours that had somehow become associated with sticky notes. First had been the yellow, then pink followed by orange and green. They had been purchased years ago after Emily had got in an argument with her Mother about a message someone had left to be paseed on to her but the stupid woman couldn't remember it properly. It turned out she needn't have bothered; the phone was never for her anyway but the thought of knowing they were there should they become needed was enough. So few times had they been used that the orange section had only just been reached.

Emily dug into her pocket and retrieved the note that had been left for her. She flattened it as best she could with the heel of her hand and rested it on top of the pile of unused ones.

It fitted perfectly.

Grabbing the pencil that rested on the other side of the phone she began to press the end lightly on the fresh note at the top of the pile. She covered it with its lead and held her device so the light was directly above it. The imprint of the word soon was clearly visible meaning whoever had left her that note, had written it here, in her Mother's home. So where was her Mother? She wouldn't have done it herself, Emily doubted the woman even knew where she worked.

With shaking hands she threw the items away from her and turned to head up the stairs. Or leave with the idea of bringing Sherlock back with her, but she didn't make it far enough to make a decision.

A sudden sting came to her neck and lifting her hand to touch it, she felt what seemed to be a needle being taken out. "Ow." It didn't take long for her world to start spinning. If she could just make it out the front door maybe she would be safe. But the spinning was getting worse and she felt herself lean against the wall for support. It didn't take her much longer to slide down it onto the floor.

Her vision was fading as she saw someone walk closer to her. She wanted to ask who they were but found she didn't have the energy. She could barely open her eyes anymore. With a sigh, she let the darkness take over and the last thing she was aware of was the figure crouching down in front of her.

Please stay safe out there guys. Let me know you're ok.

FB