𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐨𝐲𝐥𝐞

》Chapter 5《

Current date: 11/10/1899
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"You really sure you wanna do this Mads? You know what that man is capable of." Zarin asked me as I had finished tying my bow into my hair. "Positive. Besides, even if he does try anything, I'll have my pepper spray with me!" I reply, finishing my look by tying my hair back into a neat little bun.

"Alright, but if you are in danger, just keep in mind that I'm only a phone call away." She tells me. Despite how much Zarin bullies the fuck out of me, I knew that deep down she really does care about me. It's always been like that, ever since I first met her during the pandemic. "Now go, it'd be rude to keep him waiting." She sends me off with a pat on my back.

Though I wouldn't put it above him to try anything in broad daylight, I seriously doubt that he'd actually stoop that low. I reached the bottom of the steps, scanning the area to find Arthur, yet he was nowhere to be found. I searched the area a few more times. Was this just some kind of sick prank? I thought, beginning to lose hope..that was until I had heard the sound of barking.

I turned around to see a small dog, who looked to be no bigger than my mom's chihuahua, practically dragging poor Arthur down the stairs. The dog appeared to be a cavalier king charles spaniel. "Well, aren't you such a cutie!" I say as the dog began sniffing me all over.

As soon as the dog determined that I wasn't a threat, he started jumping all over me. I kneeled down to the dog, who immediately started licking me. "Vic." Arthur simply said. "Is that his name?" I asked him, running my hands through the dog's fur. "Indeed it is! He's named after our dear Queen Victoria." He told me triumphantly. "Damn, you must be a different type of British to name your dog after the queen." I tell him, setting Vic down.

"I'm not sure if I should take that as an insult or a compliment." Arthur says to me. "Why not both?" I reply, standing myself back up.

"Sooo, where to?" I ask, as we both step out of the mansion and into the waiting carriage outside. "Wherever we want to go. Really, I just need inspiration for my writing." He explains. I could understand where he was coming from. As an author, sometimes writer's block can come to bite you in the ass.

++++++

"...what am I looking at?" I asked Arthur as we both stared into the window of a hat shop..presumably for men. "Those are hats, Madison." He tells me, seeming to be lost in thought. "That ain't no goddamn hat, hats don't look like triangles." I reply, continuing to stare at the hats. How do triangle hats help him with writing? I thought.

I stopped questioning as we moved on..I mean, he's the author who wrote the Sherlock Holmes novels so..I'm sure he had his reasons. He continues to look around, still stuck in his thoughts. "He must be somewhere pretty far, huh, Vic?" I said, looking down at Vic. He barked in response to my question.

"I'm still present my dear dove, not as far as you think." He explains. "Just thinking then?" I ask. He nods. I'd never seen him so concentrated on something. I look around at the place around me. All those shops that would be turned into something else in the future. It's honestly kinda unreal to think about it.

We stopped in front of a jewelry store, looking at all the products in the window. There was something that caught my eye. "Oh hey look, they're selling evil eyes!" I said, looking at the blue eye on its chain. Honestly, I do need to get a new one.. I thought as I continued to stare at it. My old one broke about a month ago and I've been meaning to get a new one. "What's an evil eye?" Arthur asked me. "Oh it's Turkish. It protects you from negativity and all that, and it'll break once its job is done." I explained, continuing to stare at the necklace. "Maybe I'll get it once I have enough money." I tell him, continuing onward.

"Actually, Madison, can you stay out here for a moment?" Arthur asks, handing me Vic's leash. "Sure..?" I said, taking Vic's leash. He disappeared inside the shop, so I took it upon myself to sit down on a bench as I waited.

It was about 5 minutes before he came back out, his hands in his pockets. "Alright, I'm ready to continue on." He tells me, taking Vic's leash.

+++++++

We were out there until dusk. There we stood, over the bridge above the river, just talking. "Madison, I have something for you." He says, before pulling out a blue bag. I had taken the bag from him and opened it to see.. "You got me the evil eye?" I asked, pulling out the necklace from the bag. The amulet seemed to stare back at me as I held it in the palm of my hand. "I mean, it seemed like you really wanted it..and I wanted to give it to you as an apology." He says, his sapphire eyes looking down.

"Apology for what?" I asked him. "Well..I bit you, Madison. Even though I had apologized before, the guilt of it has been eating me up inside. So, consider this my apology to you." He says, the guilt still very evident in his voice. I gave him a sympathetic smile before speaking. "Arthur, it's fine, I promise." I tell him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "No..it isn't. I bit you without your consent…I thought my actions were justified, but I can see now that they weren't." He continues, turning his head away to avoid looking at me.

"Arthur, I've gotten over it. If I were really that upset about it, I wouldn't be out with you right now." I reassure. "You are truly too nice for this world.." he says, looking out at the river below. "Well, that's a bit of a stretch." I reply, looking down at the river as well.

"You know, people usually throw coins in rivers because they believe that it'll make their wish come true." Arthur tells me, finally being able to bring himself to look at me. "What, do you wanna make a wish or something?" I ask, looking at him. "Maybe..do you?" He asks. "I mean, I don't see the harm in making a wish." I replied. He pulls out two coins from his pocket and hands one to me.

I think long and hard about my wish. Maybe I'll wish for good luck or something like that.. After a bit of thinking, my wish is finalized. I threw my coin into the water. "What'd you wish for?" He asks, that devilish smile on his face once more. "Wouldn't you like to know, Mr. Doyle!" I say, laughing.

"Say, Madison, how about a little game." He says, the mischief in his voice becoming evident. "Ahh shit, I don't like the sound of that." I told him uneasily. "Oh it's very simple. Whichever one of us kisses the other first, loses the game." He explains. "Go on…" I say, eyeing him suspiciously. "If I win, you must surrender your body, heart, and your destiny to me." He continues. "And what happens if I win?" I ask him, as we start walking. "Then I leave you alone, you'll never have to worry about me bothering you again." He finishes.

I put some thought into my decision before answering.

"Alright..I'll play. Game on, Arthur."