Deducing Romance

Ben meets Sherlock

Monday, 2:00 pm

"Hey, Zinnia. Wanna get some lunch?" My boyfriend walked over to my desk. I had been looking up information on Sherlock, and quickly exited out of the browser. "What brings you here?" I looked up at him. He smiled. "Got off of work early and thought I would surprise you." I nodded and got up out of my seat. "Where to then?" He shrugged. "We'll see." I began following him out of the building. It had been a few days since my last encounter with Mr. Holmes, and it was pretty wild. My wound was healing quickly thanks to doctor Watson, but there would be a permanent scar on my chest. Delightful.

We headed to my boyfriend's car and got inside. He began driving and we then reached a nice little cafe. We entered and ordered our food, then sat down to eat. After a long silence, Ben began to speak. "I don't want you to be a detective anymore." He looked up at me. I was honestly quite surprised to hear this, because most of the time I know what to expect when he speaks. I gave him a confused look. "You heard me Zinnia, I just think a job like that is too dangerous for you. I mean, just look at what happened to you a few days ago! You're going to have that ugly scar on your chest for the rest of your life!" My eyes widened. "Excuse me? Do you think I can't handle this job? I've worked for this my whole life. Last time I checked you aren't the one deciding what I do with my life!"

"I for one, think she is perfectly skilled for the job." We both looked over to the source of the voice. "Sherlock? What a pleasant surprise... um, please sit." Sherlock had been hiding his face behind a newspaper while sitting at another table. He sure had a tendency for appearing out of nowhere. He sat down beside me and looked at Ben, who seemed a bit annoyed that Mr. Holmes had barged into the conversation. "Ben, this is Sherlock... he's a friend of mine." Ben gave Sherlock and evil glare. "Is this the same friend that managed to get you shot? Not such an incredible detective after all, huh?" Sherlock winced, feeling affected by those words. I started to talk to avoid the awkwardness this conversation would lead to. "Well, I mean, that's old news right? Sherlock, allow me to introduce you to-" As I began to speak, Sherlock continued. "Ben, your new boyfriend that you had met upon arriving England. He's an unpopular actor hoping for a big role so that he can finally achieve his dream of becoming famous. He claims to love you for your mind but mostly just likes you because of your looks and the sex. He's never had a relationship last longer than a month, due to his-"

"Enough, Sherlock." I shook my head at him, and he looked over at me. He cleared his throat. "I apologize. I must be leaving. Oh, and Zinnia... don't listen to him. You are extremely capable of managing the career of being a detective, and anyone who doesn't agree clearly doesn't know you." He got up out of his seat and quickly left. Ben looked back at me. "What was that all about? A friend of yours, huh?" He scoffed and sat back in his seat, crossing his arms. "I can't believe you, Zinnia." I wanted to mention what Sherlock had just said about Ben, but I didn't want to further continue the fight. "Look, I know this job is dangerous... you just have to believe in me. I promise I'll always be careful. You have nothing to worry about. You can trust me." I gave him a light smile and placed my hands over his.

We had finished eating, and Ben drove me to work. We did not mention the argument from then on. I continued to investigate on the case once i got back to my office, thinking of Sherlock. I decided that when I finished work, I would go over to his house. I didn't know where he lived, but I would figure it out. Honestly I didn't know whether to hate this man or be obsessed with him... and I wasn't quite sure how he felt about me. He gave off the asexual vibe. Surely he wouldn't like me. Perhaps he is just interested in my capabilities. There is no way we happened to walk into each other all of those times... No, he was following me, but this time, I'm going to surprise him. I wonder if he'll see it coming.