Chapter 2: about a partner
Tall, curly black hair, this man in a black fitted suit, standing with his back facing John is talking happily with Mrs. Hudson, he had a typical London accent, when Mrs. Hudson made him laugh, his deep laughter arose from the abdomen.
John doesn't know why he could feel a tiny jump of joy.
Mrs. Hudson saw John, calling to him warmly, "John, you are back. Let me introduce to you, this is Mrs. Turner's new tenant, oh, the one I was talking about this morning."
It had been a while since Mrs. Hudson was this happy; she made the introduction in high spirits.
It's Mrs. Turner's new tenant, John thought while pulling up a polite smile. When the man turned around to hold out his hand, John held out his hand for a quick shook in return.
"John Waston."
"Joan Trim."
When John saw Joan's face, the rising joy within him turned into a heavy stone crushing his heart to a new depth.
Joan, this man who was introduced to him by Mrs. Hudson, he had a pair of green eyes, with a slight sign of mix-blood, but most importantly, Joan is a man who will be praised for his beauty by anyone, and he's outgoing. From the moment John walked into the house he would hear the bursts of laughter from him because of Mrs. Hudson's jokes.
It's a man that's completely different to Sherlock.
It's not Sherlock, this thought passed John's head in a flash.
Even John couldn't believe that he's still holding onto the thought that people could come back to life. John! You are a doctor, and a soldier! How can you let yourself have such weak thoughts!
Pretending to be listening to Mrs. Hudson and Joan's conversation, John tried his best to keep down the disappointment that kept on arising to the surface, then he began to try to join in to their conversation.
From their chat, to his surprise John discovered that Mrs. Turner's tenant is also an army doctor just like himself.
"Oh, I couldn't believe we are both army doctors." It was rare for John to meet someone working in the same field as him; he finally showed some positive emotions.
Joan sitting opposite him also made a surprised expression, "Oh, yes. This must be a chance in a million. Yes, I was never good at maths."
"Don't worry about maths, love, it's good luck that you two can meet." Mrs. Hudson added from the side.
"Yes." John was never very talkative; he can only nod to agree.
Mrs. Hudson told John, "He's such a nice man. I was just complaining to Mrs. Turner that the kitchen light was broken and I never got the chance to change it, Joan heard us and he volunteered to come and fix it for me."
John was surprised, "Mrs. Hudson, why didn't you tell me the kitchen light was broken."
"My child, you hadn't been very you in the past few days, I'm too worried that you will fall off the chair when you are changing my light bulb, that's not what I want to see."
"I'm really sorry, Mrs. Hudson." John apologized very sincerely. He knew he had been quite a problem lately, he never thought it will affect Mrs. Hudson, he felt a bit guilty.
"Oh, everyone had downtimes." Mrs. Hudson waved her hand with a smile, not caring at all. "It like the times when London rains I always feel down, but sadly London's rainy days is always longer than its sunny times. As a result I always end up doing stupid things on rainy days."
"Haha, Mrs. Hudson you are such a humorous person." Joan heard what Mrs. Hudson said to try to cheer John up; he couldn't help but laugh, "You must be the most humorous lady I have met."
"Thank you for the praise." Mrs. Hudson got up from the chair and curtsied.
Joan caught the moment, and kissed Mrs. Hudson's hand as a return salute. "Is also the most beautiful lady on Baker Street. If I don't owe Mrs. Turner any rent, I will say the most beautiful lady in England."
"Oh, haha, how sweet you are." Mrs. Hudson was flustered at Joan's praise.
John held up his tea cup and said, "Oh yes, if time could go back 20 years, I will choose Mrs. Hudson as a life long partner without a second thought."
Joan: "It's not late now, Mr. Waston."
John: "No no no, Mr. Trim was in front of me, I couldn't take away your love by force."
Joan: "Ha, you are jealous."
Mrs. Hudson however said sadly, "Oh I'm very sorry, I had already decided to live the rest of my life along."
John and Joan both replied, "Oh, Mrs. Hudson you are so cruel."
Mrs. Hudson laughed while rubbing her sore stomach, "Bad boys, I can't keep on laughing like this, you guys just met and you already reached a secret agreement?"
"Maybe it's because both our names start with 'J'?" Joan pulled a serious face, but his green eyes clearly showed mischief. "Mr. Waston, please call me Joan, for our late meeting."
"Call me John, for our late meeting." John in return also pulled a straight face.
The two people shook hands once more.
Mrs. Hudson on the other hand laughed so much that her eyes were tearing.
"I heard John, you were feeling down lately?" Putting his humors behind, Joan changed to a thoughtful face, changing the topic.
When he heard Joan's start, John had a bad feeling, and now, he was right…
"Is it because you can't find a job?"
Taking back his previous thought, John thought to himself maybe he was too sensitive? What happened between him and Sherlock, no he should say Sherlock's death shouldn't be known by the whole of England.
"No, I just went out for a walk and came back a bit late." John quickly thought up a reasonable explanation.
Joan pulled a huge smile after he heard John's answer, he patted John's back and said, "Don't be embarrassed, John. Not having a job is not a shame. Who would come home this late except those without a job?"
John who was just drinking, choked from Joan's encouraging pat on the back, "Cough cough, it's really not."
However even Mrs. Hudson thought Joan was right, she seemed worried, "John, it's okay. You don't have to worry about paying rent, don't force yourself."
"Cough cough, it's really not that. Mrs. Cough, Hudson, cough." Patting his chest, John tries to explain, but it was hard for him to admit that he went to see Sherlock, all he can do is repeat, "It's really not that."
"I know you are desperate for a job, but you don't have to react this violently, John." Although they only met for half an hour, Joan had already discovered John's good old personality, enjoying with a cup of tea in hand John's awkward moment where he wants to explain but struggles to find the right words to do so.
"Joan, do you have any solutions?" Mrs. Hudson at last turned her gaze towards Joan, this young man who had changed her light bulb for her and talked to her for the whole afternoon, plus his looks are magnificent, he had already became a trustable person in Mrs. Hudson's heart.
"Mrs. Hudson there is no need to worry, I do in fact know of a job that will suit John perfectly." Joan of course didn't disappoint Mrs. Hudson.
"I work at St Mary's Hospital (Mrs. Hudson: that's a big hospital), the hospital is currently running low on surgeons, John, I still you should give it a try. With your record you will have no problem getting the job at all."
"St Mary's, you are putting too much confidence in me." John laughed bitterly, he thought this hospital's standard is too high for him; he is just an army doctor after all.
"Don't say that, John, I think you are great." Mrs. Hudson gave John the essential encouragement just at the right time.
"Then," Putting down the tea cup, Joan started off his sentence like he's about to make a life decision, "John, give me a copy of your CV, I'll pass it on to the director, I'm quite close to him, it should be fine."
"Oh Joan, you are such a nice man." Mrs. Hudson showed maybe just a bit too much excitement at Joan's suggestion, like John is already a doctor at St. Mary's. She urged John to get a CV for Joan.
But the problem is John doesn't have any form of CV on him, he was never intended to – for Christ's sake – go look for a job today. But looking into the pair of expecting eyes that's Mrs. Hudson, John can only say, "Urh, they took my CV, I'll go upstairs and see if I have any spare." Then John ran upstairs with the fastest speed he can manage. Laughters rose behind him, be it Mrs. Hudson's or Joan's, John chose to ignore them all.
God, job hunting, since when had he last done that? John tried his best to look for a surviving CV in the messy upstairs living room, and couldn't stop muttering to himself along the way.
John vaguely remembered that he tried to look for a job when he first moved into 221B. However, he later discovered that it's not such a smart idea when Sherlock kept on dragging him out to solve random cases and he often end up skipping his work. Even if the owner of the clinic was her ex girlfriend, it's hard to cover this fact up.
John ended up only working part time instead of trying to find a place to work as a full time doctor. His principal work had always been Sherlock's helper or his blogger.
At last he found a presentable copy of his CV in an unknown corner of the room, John let out a long sigh, and ran downstairs.
"Then just wait for my good news." Joan, after taking John's CV off him, winked at him.
He then bid farewell to Mrs. Hudson. Turning around, his long black coat created a beautiful curve, finally taking his leave after waving to John and Mrs. Hudson once again.
Joan acted very fast, noon the next day, John was sitting in his sofa reading the news. Talking about working last night, John came to a conclusion that he shouldn't continue being apathetic, he need to find a job to at least maintain normal everyday life. So now he is trying to find an appropriate job vacancy in the papers.
At this moment, footsteps echoed in the corridor.
Looking up, John saw a very excited Mrs. Hudson running up the stairs, "Oh John, I just got a call from Joan, he told you to go to St. Mary's for an interview this afternoon at 3.
"Me?" John pointed at himself, doubting.
"Yes, you, John. An interview means good news, come on, dress yourself. You need to be positive for the interview." Mrs. Hudson at this moment is looking through John's wardrobe choosing John's interview suit or him.
John didn't think that Joan would really be able to do it, but no matter the result today, John reckons he needs to return the favor.
John, supporting his head with his hand, looked at Mrs. Hudson's happy face, giving a few comments at Mrs. Hudson's choice of closing every so often, but still he refused to move from his sofa.
In the end, Mrs. Hudson protested with a "This is your interview, I'm not taking care of it!", John finally got out of the sofa.
John at the end only put on his usual jacket and is now standing outside St. Mary's hospital, looking at his watch; it's now 2:45PM, 15 minutes until the interview.
Mrs. Hudson told him many times that Joan would be waiting for him by the doors. But he's been standing here for nearly ten minutes.
John saw a person running out of the hospital doors in the next 5 minutes, it's Joan. "I'm really sorry, John. I got interrupted by a nurse."
"Oh, the time is not great, our directors hates to be late." Looking at the time on his phone, Joan grabbed John and started to run, taking the lift, getting out, turning again and again, John's head failed to remember the route, he was only able to notice that the surroundings got quieter and quieter.
Finally Joan stopped in front of a pair of closed doors, "It's here. John, good luck!" After that, he pushed John through the double doors without waiting for John to get ready.
John wanted to say wait, but he was only able to catch a glimpse of good luck before the doors closed.
At the end of the office, the director looked up from his pile of paperwork, staring at John.
"Dr. Watson? Please take a seat." The director took out John's CV and started to ask questions.
John pulled out a chair across from the director and took a seat.
"You are an army doctor?"
"Yes."
"May I ask, why did you come back?"
"I got injured."
"Oh, and now?"
"It's fine now. Urh, all fine now, I can work anytime."
"Oh, then, Dr. Watson, I'm pleased to tell you, you are hired. But you need to know that St. Mary's is a big hospital, from any aspect you want to see it. Even if we do have Joan's guarantee, you have to start as an interne, is that okay with you?"
John was a bit stunned at this fast occurrence of events, he nodded, "It's fine, I don't mind starting as an interne, St. Mary's is a good hospital, even just as an interne, I'm sure I will be able to learn a lot."
"Dr. Trim will show you around."
The whole interview took less than 5 minutes, and then John was invited out of the director's office.
"How was it?" Leaning on the wall, Joan waited outside for John with a smile; the said person however is still stunned by the progress.
"Come on, let's get the paperwork done." Holding John's shoulder, Joan started turning corners once more.
In a haze, John became an interne at St. Mary's hospital.
Standing outside the hospital doors, John still felt unbelievable.
"Congratulations." Counting form yesterday, Joan held out his hand for the third time.
"Thank you, then should we have dinner together?" John shook hands with the Joan too for the third time.
Joan's lips curved into a beautiful curve after hearing John's invitation, "John, you have to be mentally prepared that I will exploit you."
Looking at this smile, John felt so familiar, like he's seen it before. He then however denied himself, maybe it's just his mind over thinking again.
A/N：enjoy, and please R&R