Coughdrops ~ Benedict Cumberbatch

Coughdrops; Part 1

The heavy glass door of the little convenience shop slammed shut after her. She didn't have enough strength or rational thought to care, however—she was far more focused on obtaining what she had come for: a bag of cherry coughdrops.

The cherry ones were Jasmine's favourite. All the other flavours were either too boring, too tart, or just simply disgusting. Cherry was nice, it had the perfect combination of sweet and medicinally tangy, and therefore was the only kind she would ever buy. Out of the already-small selection of cherry-flavoured coughdrops, she preferred the Halls brand. Not quite sure of the reason why, but that's how it was.

A sneeze set off a coughing fit as she walked through the aisles, causing other shoppers to turn and look at the shabbily-dressed and clearly sick girl, tutting quietly to themselves as she pulled out some tissues and attempted to stifle the noise.

Once she reached the aisle where the tea was stocked, the coughing had subsided, much to her relief. She scanned the shelves with a slower glance than usual, due to the throbbing headache that August had decided to include in its package deal. Cold weather. It was lovely, but the same could not be said for the problems that came along with it.

“There it is,” Jasmine breathed quietly, and stretched on her tiptoes to grab the last remaining box of mint tea. Again, she wasn't sure why, but mint tea was her preference whenever she was feeling under the weather. Which she certainly was now.

Having found the tea, she continued on to the section in the very back of the store. It wasn't very large, the store, but it contained a good variety of things at a decently low price, which she was grateful for. It wouldn't do to spend a large amount on things like milk, which she hardly used but was, in her opinion, too expensive at other shops.

There, over in the far corner, was her treasure.

“Yessssssss,” she whispered happily, ignoring the twinge in her throat as it threatened to erupt in another fit of loud coughs.

Walking out from the aisle, she came into full-view of the medicinal corner, and stopped. There was already someone standing there, a very tall someone who took up the entire floorspace in front of the coughdrops.

Jasmine resisted the urge to curse.

She was never much one for society and circumstances that forced her to interact with strangers. Doing so always made her feel inferior, which she hated with a passion. She greatly preferred reading alone, zoning out on her computer, or spending time with her best friend. Of course, going outside was wonderful, and so was people-watching, but when it came to the possibility of having to speak to those unknown people...

Nothing could be done about it, though, so she had to pluck up the courage—and indifference to the strangers—to get through whatever situation presented itself. This was clearly one of those times.

“Uhm,” Jasmine began, walking closer to the stranger and timidly touching his shoulder when he didn't respond immediately.

“Excuse me, sorry, could I get a bag of those, sorry, I'll be quick,” she said, as the man turned around.

He was dressed in grey sweatpants and a warm-looking blue jumper that appeared to be a size too big for him. From underneath the jumper, a light blue denim shirt peeked out. His rather large feet were covered by grey-and-black trainers, and his black, curly hair peeked out from underneath a green knitted hat that was patterned with what vaguely appeared to be fish.

“Oh!” Jasmine involuntarily squeaked as the stranger's identity registered in her brain; he was no longer a stranger, but Benedict Cumberbatch.

Benedict Cumberbatch holding two bags of Halls cherry coughdrops.