Unending Patience
I looked at my good friend Holmes after I saw my cousin start crying after he told her he regretted ever hiring her. I was not going to let him get away with making Claire feel so rotten.
"Holmes, you should be the one to go upstairs to apologize to her! As Mycroft said, she has had a rough day by having to see her old lover, who treated her with little civility. And on the top of that you had to yell at her for not wanting to change her relationship with your brother."
I was standing by now and was glowering at him, very clearly furious at his actions. Holmes sighed, massaging his forehead with his left hand, trying to keep his focus on something besides my angry look.
"Watson, as I told my brother, if I go upstairs right now it will only do more damage to Miss Watson. I did go too far, I admit that now. But you have to understand my position, my brother is a recluse who has shown many times that he will not change his ways for anybody."
I sighed, seeing his rationale was much more calculated than I had thought.
"But in Claire's case, you think he would change for her?" I asked, trying to keep relaxed.
Holmes shook his head, "I don't think your cousin wants him to change. This is the best way for everyone; even if that means them being together."
He sighed, lighting a pipe and sitting in his favourite chair to pick up the paper. I nodded in agreement, eager to use my notes and start my chronicles of this case. But in this drama, unlike the others I had written, I felt obligated to highlight my cousin's behavior and connections to the case. I looked up from my notebook towards the door, wondering what was going on between my cousin and Holmes's brother.
Claire wiped away her unending stream of tears as she sat on the bed, trying to ignore the sound of a soft but insistent knock on her door.
"Claire, please open the door. Sherlock just went too far, and you know how childish he can be around people. The idiot has no tact sometimes, never has," Mycroft's consoling voice wafted into her ears.
The young lady sighed sadly and as if by an invisible string was drawn to the door and opened it a crack. In the soft gaslight, she looked almost angelic to Mycroft, who wasn't sure if he should stand in the hallway or come in and comfort her.
"Did you want to console me or are you just going to stand there?" she asked finally, wiping away her tears and wishing desperately that they would go away.
After looking around to make no one saw him go in, Mycroft followed her inside but kept the door half open.
She sat on the bed, trying to calm down and stop acting emotional, but the tears seemed uncooperative.
"You know this isn't only about your brother, Mycroft, it is just that after everything today I just couldn't hold it in anymore."
Claire blew her nose softly and tried to focus on Mycroft's comforting eyes instead of imagining how bad she looked. The large man nodded as he sat in the chair across from her.
"It's very reasonable - after meeting the lad today I'm surprised you didn't do more. I can see you are clearly over him now but while we had him in the room I couldn't help but want to throttle him for you," he said shyly not sure why he was being so sensitive to her.
Claire hid a smile, "Thank you, Mycroft but I think the thing that stopped me from hurting him was that I didn't want to give him the satisfaction that he had hurt me so deeply that I had to hurt him back." Her tears finally ceased for the moment, making her seem less emotional but still in pain.
Mycroft saw the logic in her sentiments and nodded once more in approval, and found himself pushing the chair closer towards the bed to get a better look at his friend.
"So, what will happen now that you've been liberated of that odious man?" he asked quietly, wondering how long he would have to be in the room.
Claire shrugged, "Do what I've been doing, work and maybe give a concert in the future. Just live my life one day at a time."
The lady seemed to be all right enough and Mycroft rose to leave but she stopped him.
"Thank you for coming up here, I know it wasn't easy," Claire said, facing him with a look of content at last.
"It was my pleasure, Claire."
Mycroft brushed away a stray piece of her hair, unaware that he was doing it until his hand brushed her cheek. He stood there, not sure what she would say or do, and to his surprise (and slight consternation) she hugged him. Claire was just as surprised to find that her arms went completely around him, and the sensation of his arms brushing her shoulders was interesting at the least.
Mycroft, trying not to blush furiously, walked down the stairs with Claire in front of him, carrying her carpet bag. She poked her head into the sitting room, where Watson was beginning to write out the adventure and Holmes was smoking his pipe and reading his mail simultaneously.
"I'm all right now, and my outburst is no fault of Mr. Holmes's - he just said something at the wrong time."
She was about to turn away when Watson stopped her. "Claire, come in here and talk to me."
The young lady sighed and walked in, sitting next to her cousin.
"Are you sure you're all right?" he asked her, looking for any signs that said otherwise.
"Yes, John, I'm perfectly fine. I just had to let out my emotions, and it just happened sooner than I hoped." Claire smiled slightly before returning to the door. "Mycroft has offered to take a cab with me on his way to Whitehall, but I'll be back soon," she said, giving a wave to both men and taking her violin case, departed out of the room.
Mycroft entered soon after Claire had passed him with her calm, meditative look.
"I hope you two have a good afternoon, I have a lot of work to do at Whitehall," he said, giving his brother and Watson a nod of respect.
Sherlock stopped him before he had the chance to turn away. "Brother, you know I do not take sudden changes very well, but if you are serious about maintaining a friendship with my assistant then I give you my blessing."
Watson laughed and Claire came back up the stairs just to see Mycroft's serene reaction. "Thank you, Sherlock, you will make things much easier by accepting it than by fighting it. Now if you don't mind, I have a cab to catch."
He tipped his hat once more and followed Claire downstairs, where the pair caught a cab. Watson watched them ride off into London, and then when the coast was clear he turned to Holmes.
"Pay up, you have given them freedom of friendship which means you have hope; so pay up, old man!" he said, grinning ear to ear.
Holmes scoffed at the statement before reaching into his pocket-book and giving his friend the money he owed him.
"I never said I had hope Watson, but it will be interesting to see if my brother maintains this friendship," he snorted, looking at the paper.
Watson shrugged at the statement.
"Well, Claire has told him everything so it's just a matter of where they go from there."
Holmes nodded looking off into the distance. "It's a game of chance, and the odds are in Mycroft's favor but I don't know what he will do."
The pair sat in comfortable silence, wondering what was going to happen in the coming months and if the friendship would last even longer with Holmes's blessing.
Claire sat comfortably in the cab while it rattled on the cobblestone-paved streets towards Whitehall. Mycroft studied her silent expression as one of contentment, and could not help cracking a smile.
"So, Miss Watson, would you like to go to the concert on Saturday? My brother is coming along with the Watsons, and I am sure we would enjoy the company."
Claire looked at him, well aware this was a rare smile of Mycroft's.
"Yes, of course, I would be honored to accompany the group. From what I've heard it's supposed to be quite good," she said, adding her smile to his.
The cab stopped and Claire stepped out to say goodbye to Mycroft.
"I shall see you on Saturday, Mr. Holmes, and by the way you can call me Claire, now that we've been given 'the blessing' by your brother," she said, waving goodbye to him as he entered the building.
Claire climbed back into the cab and instructed the cabby to her flat, where she could drop off her belongings and go back to work with no more tension between her and Sherlock Holmes.
Watson sat, writing away, hoping to get all of the fresh developments in print before the details left his mind. Holmes as usual sat back in his chair, basking in the light of a solved case; this almost happy quality to his personality only lasted a week before he would begin to grow bored once more.
Claire approached the sitting room of 221B once again and sat at her previous position behind the desk. Watson looked up to see his cousin sitting down and turned to face her with concern.
"So, Claire, will you be all right from now on?"
She nodded silently. "Yes, John, there is no need to worry about my emotions anymore. Unless something truly tragic happens I'll remain content." Claire said diplomatically, opening the mail carefully. "By the way, your brother invited me to that concert tomorrow night, Mr. Holmes," she added in a slightly happier tone.
Watson smiled at his cousin's flicker of happiness. "That's good to hear, I'm sure we will all enjoy your company, Claire."
Holmes looked up from his telegram and nodded. "Since it is Beethoven's 5th symphony I gather that you will enjoy the performance as well," he said dully.
Claire snickered at the comment. "I do love Beethoven's music - he is one of my favourite composers," she sniffed loftily.
The three of them sat in comfortable silence - Watson trying to make an outline, Holmes meditating, and Claire checking the mail. Her eyes fell on a recently delivered telegram. "Well, it seems Mr. Gardner has gotten safely to Miss. Steward's estate. She is thinking about holding a ball in your honor, Mr. Holmes and they will not take no for an answer," she said, handing him the sheet of paper.
Holmes's grey eyes swept across the paper listlessly and then handed it to Watson.
"You failed to mention that we were all invited, Miss Watson. I know with your recent outburst you might be disinclined to come, but if you bring Mycroft along this William fellow might keep his distance."
Claire shrugged, "I suppose so, but she failed to mention a specific date so it all depends on the timing. As for William, your brother isn't my only line of defense," she said slyly, her eyes sparkling with mystery.
Watson eyed her suspiciously. "What do you mean by that, Claire?" he asked, hoping it didn't involve violence.
The response he got was a short burst of laughter from Claire. "A lady never tells, you must have patience with me, John."
The doctor sighed. "It seems I have unending patience these days, but I must be off, for I promised Mary I would be home early today." He gathered up his notes and black bag and with a nod departed.
When the doctor went out of the room he saw his friend and his cousin behaving like regular human beings for the first time in quite a long time, and it made him feel better about the future.