Deducing Romance

The Woman

Friday 5:00 pm (3 days later)

Two days had past since then, and Sherlock and I had continued to work on the case until we finally found the location of the culprit. He insisted that we go find the drug lord tomorrow, but I told him I wasn't one for working on weekends. I was currently at a fancy dinner party that I had been invited to. I was invited by a wealthy man that I was close friends with. His name was Harry, and I had found his missing daughter, for that he was always thanking me. I felt a bit uneasy, I wasn't use to such fancy dinners. I wore a beautiful black dress, some heels and as usual, my trench coat. I felt uncomfortable in that dress. It was a gift Ben had gotten me for my birthday, and was the fanciest thing in my closet. It was slightly revealing I'd say, but he claimed I looked 'sexy' in it.

I met up with Harry. He was in his mid-thirties. A very classy gentleman indeed. I stayed fairly close to him, chatting with his fellow rich friends, while sipping champagne. I laughed when appropriate, but other than that, stayed silent. By the time it was 10:00 pm, I suggested we should leave, but he wouldn't budge. I excused myself from his crowd, saying I had to go to the bathroom. I really just wanted to get out of there, I was exhausted and just wanted to sit on the couch and watch the television. I was stopped by a woman upon entering the bathroom. "Excuse me," she said. "Can you come with me please? The host of the party took interest in you and wants to talk." The girl was fairly young, and had a beautiful face. I studied her suspiciously, but finally agreed, and followed her.

We went upstairs into one of the rooms. She opened the door and closed it, leaving me inside by myself. The room seemed quite feminine, and was very large. I examined one of the photos inside of the room. It read 'The Woman' and had a quite graphic photo. I was about to pick up the card when suddenly a feminine voice called out. "Ah, you're here. Are you enjoying the party?" I looked to the source of the voice, seeing a woman in a chair with her back facing me. I raised a brow. "Why yes, but I'm more interested in why you called me here."

An evil chuckle escaped her lips and she turned around in her seat, then got up. She was perhaps one of the most gorgeous woman I had ever seen in my life. She stood tall, confident, and beautiful. I couldn't tell much about her, other than the fact that she clearly had a lot of wealth. She seemed very proud of herself, knowing that she was sexy. I blinked and continued to study her. She then spoke. "Zinnia Sterling, correct? Beautiful name by the way... and beautiful woman too." She smirked. "I've been watching you for quite some time now. I noticed that you have taken interest in Sherlock." My eyes widened. "What makes you say that?" She narrowed her eyes and walked closer to me. "Do these ring a bell?" In her hand were photos of Sherlock and I kissing each other. The hair from the back of my neck stood up. "H-how did you get those?" I asked. She laughed. "As I said, I've been watching you." She held up my cellphone. "We wouldn't want dear Ben to see these, would we?" I opened my mouth in shock. Before I could ask her how she managed to get my phone, I realized that she must have taken it when I was at the entrance and handed my coat to the butler that was there. He must have removed all of my belongings and given them to her immediately.

Then that means Harry must have been in on it. I knew there was something suspicious about him inviting me here. He has several female friends and I had solved his case months ago. I had my mind twisted around Sherlock this whole time that I didn't have time to notice what was happening around me. Sherlock was right, love is dangerous.

I wanted to take the pictures from her, but I'm sure she's more clever than to just give them up. She was clearly blackmailing me. "Alright then. What is it that you want?" I asked. She shook her head. "Funny, I never took you for the cheating type." She grinned. "Stay away from Sherlock, will you? That's it. You do that to my liking, and I'll burn these pictures and stop watching you." I crossed my arms. "Why exactly do you want me to stay away from him? Do you have a crush on him?"' Suddenly a realization occurred to me. "You're Irene Adler, aren't you?" She raised a brow. "How do you know that?"

"John's blog." I shrugged. "Everyone reads it." She laughed. "Ahh, I see. Then you also know that I was Sherlock's first lover?" She seemed so full of herself, and I felt a wave of jealously course through me. "I highly doubt that. I've kissed the man and he's not in love with me. Plus, it's not like you know him. As a matter of fact, you haven't even kissed him have you... and aren't you supposed to be dead?" I scoffed. "Nevermind that. Are we done here? I'm tired and want to go home. You're honestly wasting my time."

A slight grin appeared on her face. "Dear god, you're just like him... That turns me on. You know... I work with women too." I shook my head. "I'm not into bondage sex, but hey, we could always have a threesome with Sherlock." She smiled a bit. "I'll be sure to add that to my bucket list." She walked closer to me, leaning in to whisper into my ear. "I'm not joking when I say I will show those pictures to Ben, because I will, and I'll ruin your life if I have to. Stay away from Sherlock. Have I made myself clear?" She could see my calm expression, so she continued the threat. "No, that's not enough... You're eventually going to tell your boyfriend you kissed Sherlock anyway. Ah, I know. I'll just kill the people you care about. Don't underestimate me, honey. I will hurt your friends... coworkers... family. Now, let me ask you again. Have I made myself clear?"

I sighed. "Of course." She smiled. She was so close to me, I could smell her expensive perfume. She gave me a kiss on the cheek, and grabbed my chin firmly. You could tell she was clearly a dominatrix. "Good girl," She leaned in closer and added, "If you ever feel like having some fun, call me. I'll give you an appointment for free." She handed me my phone back. "You can go back to your boyfriend now, it's getting late. I'll tell your work to cut all ties between you and Sherlock. I deleted and blocked his number from your phone as well." She handed me a small, priceless diamond necklace. "There's a speaker inside of this. I will be able to hear everything you say at all times. Take it off and the first one to go is dear Ben." She put the necklace on me gently, and tugged on it firmly, looking back up at me. "We'll meet again shortly to see how well you're avoiding him." She smiled. "You look incredible in this dress by the way." I felt like punching her gorgeous face, but refrained from doing so. I turned around, and walked out of the room, my head held high, but honestly feeling horrible.

I was led by a butler to a car that drove me home, since Harry had already left. I knew I couldn't talk to Sherlock anymore. This woman held high power and would be watching my every move. Not only would she send those pictures to Ben, but she could hurt people I cared about... she could even release my personal information to the public. Clearly this woman was madly in love with Sherlock. I don't quite see the point in going through all of the trouble of blackmailing me though. I'm going to listen to her, nonetheless, because I don't want any trouble, plus... Sherlock isn't such a big deal. It won't be too hard ignoring him, right?