The Autobiography of Mycroft Holmes

Chapter 4: Daily Grind

In which the reader may make the acquaintance of Assistant Detective Inspector Gina Lestrade.

The next morning, I woke up later than normal. I was exhausted from staying up late the night before, and I was still wearing my business casual suit. I slowly emerged from my bed, straightening out my jacket, and
decided I'd put some new clothes on. I nearly tripped over the heels that I had kicked off before collapsing into bed the night before, and I picked them up after realizing what they were.

I walked over to my closet. I put the heels back in, where they belonged. There were many things in it, but an average person looking at it would probably still gape at it. The conformity was obvious: I never wore anything but suits. The suit jackets, vests, business shirts and skirts and black slacks were numerous, as were the heels, flats, and menswear shoes, and there was a small pile of workout clothing in the corner that appeared to be old, but relatively unused.

The only normal clothes I owned were three plain shirts, two pairs of jeans, one pair of shorts, and a pair of old boaters next to my workout sneakers. My room was extremely neat, to the point where some may have said OCD-style neat, except for the mess on my dresser (I knew where everything was anyway) and the bed-sheets that had wrapped around my foot as I tried to get out of bed too quickly.

After emerging from my closet with a white business shirt, a black skirt, and a pair of black flats from my closet, I set the clothes down on my bed and the flats at my bedside and walked over to my mirror. I put mascara on my eyes, and then proceeded to line them with a heavy black eyeliner. The nude lipstick that I wore smudged overnight, so I fixed it as well.

I put my hair up in the bun that it normally appeared in, unless it was wet in which case, I'd use a ponytail. But on the day of Sherlock's graduation, I'd worn my hair loose. This I can remember easily. Rarely did I ever wear my hair down in those days. I saw my watch and ring on top of the above-desk drawer. These were two things I never appeared in public without.

The watch fit around my wrist easily, as did the ring around my right fourth finger. I was shocked that I took these off before going to bed the night before; I could go weeks without taking them off. I looked at the ring, knowing what it meant to me. I stared it down with a look that intimidated some of the best lawyers in London, and quickly turned away. I brushed my hand on the skirt that I had slept in, and changed into the new clothes.

My room was at the end of the hall, bordered by the bathroom and the guest room which was presently occupied by Sherlock Holmes. I left my room, closing the door behind me after putting on my shoes.

"Sherlock, would you like to go out for breakfast?" I yelled to her by the guest room door as I fixed my shoes.

"Sure, I just need one second."

"I'll wait," I said, sitting at my kitchen table. My entire house was as neat as my room, except for the bathroom and the spare room that I had passed in the hall that contained my law office and bookkeeping supplies. I examined the mess, going over in my mind everything I needed to do and for what due dates. At this time, I was currently a residential member of a law firm. I rarely physically went into the office, but I was sent cases for which I created defenses and prosecutions and gave them to the other lawyers in the firm to present. I never lost one case.

I picked up my phone, which was sitting on my kitchen table. It vibrated, and I unlocked it to see who texted me, knowing before I did who it was.

One (1) message from GINA LESTRADE

I read the message from Gina as I walked to the coffee shop with Sherlock. My sister did not ask me who I was texting, rather, she was shocked enough to see that I was actually texting in the first place.

"I cannot believe you would do something so base as to send a message to your friend... your friend... in writing! The fact that you have friends, even, I can't fathom..."

"Can you be silent for a minute? I need to call her. Hello?" I nearly yelled into the phone as I walked through the door to the coffee shop. Almost everyone in the building turned their head to stare at me.

"Good God, Mycroft, you're calling another human being?!"

"I know I am! Can you shut up for less than a minute?"

"Sorry, Mycroft, but this is... I just..."

"Gina? It's Mycroft. I am well, how are you? Oh, can I call you back in a minute? My sister is trying to annihilate me with her obnoxious demeanor."

"I need money, Mycroft!"

"Give me a second, Gina; I'm on line at a coffee shop and my sister is ordering. I know, yeah, sorry I didn't mention her. So... Yeah, that's fine. Call me back in five minutes."

Sherlock ordered and when the cashier asked for the money, I shoved my cell phone into my bag and opened up my wallet. Knowing Sherlock, the bill must have come to at least six dollars for one cup of coffee. When it came to over ten dollars, I shut my eyes in pain. This was obviously a time before I was as wealthy as I am now.

I paid for Sherlock's drink, obtained my own which was less than a quarter of the price of Sherlock's, and sat down with Sherlock at a table by the window.

"Gina?" she asked me just as I sat down.

"Gina Lestrade. An old friend of mine. And I was actually having a productive conversation with her before you interrupted me."

"My apologies, Mycroft, but who is she really? You don't have friends, do you? If you do, I'd appreciate it if you introduced me to these individuals. Unless they are from the Diogenes Club, in which case I would not care to."

Ignoring her last remark, I responded to Sherlock's questions. "I do not, in fact, have friends. But Ms. Lestrade is an exception that I would have to make. She was in the Diogenes Club, but long ago when I first joined. She hasn't set foot in the club in five years. I became, sort of, friends with her over time. She spent a lot of time in the Stranger's room, more than the average Diogenes member, and one day I struck up a conversation with her.

"Gina Lestrade is a University graduate from my year, but not from Oxford. She was in training with New Scotland Yard to become a Detective Inspector while a member at the Diogenes. She is, presently, an Assistant Detective Inspector.

"I had lost contact with her for about three years after she left the Diogenes Club. But, just a few months ago, she contacted me. She remembered how I used to discuss with her the art of deduction and how to deduct, and she asked me to solve a small problem for her.

"Since then, she's been calling me for either help or advice nearly every day. It is getting rather annoying, but she is a tolerable person, one of the few that I have met in a long time. So I help her out when she needs it. She's got a little problem on her hands that she wants me to solve, so I'm going to go help her when we leave. I probably won't be home until later tonight."

"That's fine; I won't be at home either. I'll be sending out résumés all day and going on interviews."

"Have you found anything yet? You were out until about one-twenty in the morning last night. Are you all right?"

"I think so. But I won't have a very good job once I do obtain one."

"Do you want to take a day off today and come to Lestrade's office with me? You can do deductions, obviously, so you may find something to stimulate yourself."

"Sure, I'll go with you," she said, and we left the shop.

That conversation would later become one of the many that I will never forget a single word from. I introduced her to the person who would make her career, and help my efforts to create the Sherlock Holmes that you know today. Lestrade was the only person that could possibly have helped me do this, and so I still commend her for it, even though we have not talked much since Sherlock and I separated from each other and I left 221B.

You'll know why later.