Consulting Fangirl

Chapter 1: Mai

“Mai, can you hurry up with that coffee order for table seven? The man’s an ass and I don’t want to hear his blabbering all day.” My best friend Katie shouted from across the kitchen. I groaned, turning my phone off and watching with a dull sadness as the Tumblr sign faded into blackness. I wish I could spend all day scrolling through Tumblr and blogging every aspect of my life, yet I had a job.

“You really shouldn’t be saying things like that about the customers. Somebody might hear.” I chided, picking up the coffee and doughnuts our regular customer always ordered. I didn’t think he was an ass at all, but Katie was always quick to judge.  

 “What are they going to do? Fire me? God forbid I’d get a vacation for once in my life, now hurry up before I kick you out of the kitchen.” I laughed at her words as I threw the towel on the counter and plastered on the best I totally care about your happiness smile I could muster and carried the food out.

The man said nothing as I dropped the food off, making no move to thank me or react in any way at all. Maybe he really was an ass.

The second I returned to the kitchen I clicked on my phone and continued scrolling through the site I’d grown to depend on over the past year. Most of my friends were on there, and my admirers as well. People messaged me when they had any questions or concerns about him. He was my life. Not in a romantic way, no, but I had seriously come to be obsessed with the adventures of this man, and I wasn’t afraid to admit it.

“Mai!” Katie shouted, snapping me from my daze. I groaned, angry for being interrupted once more.

“What?” I asked, returning the phone to my pocket.

“It’s time to go. Boss let us off early since the place is dead. Want to come over?” She asked.

“No, I think I’ll just walk home. I need some fresh air and Tumblr time.” I explained, throwing my coat over my shoulder. It was warm enough that I wouldn’t need it.

“Whatever, just be careful. Try not to hurt anyone in your fangirl moments.  Wouldn’t want a repeat of last month.” I laughed and smacked her arm playfully, recalling in my head the time I panicked over some Sherlock post I found online and accidentally smacked the man beside me in the face.

“I’ll be fine, now get on home. I need some time with my detective.” She rolled her eyes at me but left anyways, going right while I went left.

I took my time, walking down the familiar London streets. It felt nice to be done work early. Yes, it seemed sad for a woman in her late 30s to be working in a café as a full time job, but I had no other choice. Being a writer didn’t offer much opportunity for work. The news wouldn’t accept me, and none of my books gained much popularity. All the fame I had acquired came from online.

My Tumblr account, Consultingfangirl221B was incredibly popular, as well as my Instagram and Twitter accounts. My entire fan-base was because of my knowledge of the greatest man to ever live. Sherlock Holmes. Over the years I had become quite knowledgeable about him. Katie called it obsession, and I agreed for the most part. Everyone needed something to obsess over; at least mine wasn’t too creepy.

Passing by the familiar St. Barts Hospital, I slowed my pace. Flashing lights and people crowded in front of the building caught my attention. Quickly, I jogged over to an ambulance and nudged an officer.

“What happened here?” I asked, my voice shaking with nerves. The man sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily.

“Suicide. Poor man just climbed up to the roof and jumped off. We found another body up there too with his bloody brains blown out! Horrible business, this is.” He saw the pale look on my face and his expression softened.

“It’s all right. Just go home and get some rest. This will all be on the news by tomorrow.”

I nodded and managed a weak smile before trudging the rest of the way home, a heavy feeling in my heart. That man must have had a great reason for jumping off the building. Maybe he was depressed, alone in the world. Maybe he couldn’t find another way out.

By the time I reached my flat, the incident seemed almost hazy in my mind, as if it hadn’t happened at all. My attention span wasn’t the greatest, so this didn’t surprise me. Sure, it was tragic, but I didn’t know the bloke, so it didn’t affect me too much.

After changing into my favourite monster pajamas and a Doctor Who tee, I made myself a cup of tea with three sugars and sat down on my couch.

Putting the tea down on the table, I eagerly snapped open my laptop and adjusted my thick, square glasses. A bark caught my attention and a grin tore it’s way onto my face.

“Holmes, what are you doing here?” I asked my lab puppy in a squeaky voice, scratching him behind the ears. He licked my hand affectionately before trying to hop up into the couch. He was still too small, though, so I had to lift him up onto my lap.

 After struggling for a few minutes to find a comfortable position with a dog and a laptop, I gave up and gently shoved the animal over to my side so I could access my laptop.

After minutes of scrolling mindlessly online, my phone buzzed. I wiped my eyes tiredly and checked the message.

 Katie: Check the news.

 I rolled my eyes and threw the phone beside me. It was probably just another celebrity interview she wanted me to see, one I would likely just watch on youtube later. I usually ignored these texts from Katie.

The phone buzzed again, sparking my curiosity.

Katie: Now.

Something about the shortness of the message made me search for the remote. Katie always texted with some sort of emoticon. It was a sort of philosophy of hers. This was strange.

 I flipped the telly on and stared intently at the newscast.

“A man killed himself today when he jumped from the roof of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. Witnesses agree that this was clearly a suicide. This was a shock to the world, especially his home in London. To make matters worse, it was recently discovered that everything this detective had accomplished, was a lie. He hired world known criminal James Moriarty to do his dirty work. So now we must ask ourselves, who was this ‘Sherlock Holmes’, and why would he kill himself?”

The remote fell to the floor as I lost consciousness, not before a scream tore it’s way from my throat.

A/N Hey guys, here's chapter one! Hope you guys like it. Please comment and vote. I'd love some feedback!