Cuddles with Cumberbatch

A Little Forgetful

We had arrived at the café which was rather small considering we were in Central London. We found a table for two and I placed my bags on to the spotless floor. The place was almost empty. I looked round and Benedict was pulling the chair out for me, I sat down and couldn’t help but grin. He graciously took his seat and just stared at me for a couple of seconds with a sort of confusion on his face. Did I have something on my face? Has my hair gone static and chaotic? I kept going over all of these possibilities in my head before he said

“You don’t know who I am, do you?”  I quickly tried to remember if I had ever seen him before… I couldn’t.

“I’m sorry, have we met before? Am I being forgetful? I am always forgetting things… I think I have the worst memory of anyone I know” I stuttered, worrying I had upset him and realised that I was babbling.

“Oh no,” he said ‘I would have remembered a beautiful face like yours!’ I blushed again, not really knowing what to say. I couldn’t work out what he was thinking but the conversation changed quickly so I had no chance of asking.

“When are you meant to be at work? Maybe I can drive you?” He said whilst slurping his coffee. I looked at my watch and smirked.

“About half an hour ago.” we chuckled to ourselves. “I couldn’t be caught at work with my skirt looking like this anyway, so don’t worry yourself.” He looked at my clothes and noticed the stains.

“I am so sorry about that, how much did it cost? I can pay for it!” You could see on his face that he was guilty and embarrassed. When he finally stopped apologising, I looked at him and he had realised that he had been talking for some time and just paused for a second.

“I don’t need you to pay for-” I was cut off suddenly by him writing a cheque of what looked like £50! He passed it over the table like it meant nothing, was he rich? I couldn’t accept it; my skirt only cost £25 at most, so I just ripped it up and put it to the side.

“Eleanor! What did you do that for? Now you are going to have to give me your number, so I can arrange to take you out to purchase a new one!” he winked and I couldn’t help but redden and seem a little speechless.

He grabbed his bag, a faded brown satchel, and pulled out a notepad and pen. He started to write what looked like a phone number and then folded the note up and placed it on the side of my coffee cup.

“I can give you a lift back to your home, if you wish.” He grinned and took another slurp from his coffee.

“I don’t want to be any troub-”

“So, where can I drop you?” he asked, leaning forward a little; like a puppy waiting for his treat. I gave in to his request, not knowing what would come of it.

“It is a five minute drive from here; I can pay for the fuel.” I have never done this before, just got into a car with a stranger who I have just met, but he was so charming.

“Okay then, are you ready to go?” you couldn’t have wiped the smile off his face even if you tried. He was glowing with happiness.

I stepped outside and he guided me to his car which was just at the end of the street, it was like he knew that I was going to turn up. We got to his car and he looked a little confused. I was stood next to a Renault Clio. He started chuckling to himself.

“What? What did I do now?” I was muddled not knowing why he was laughing.

“Oh nothing, only… That’s not my car! This one is…” he glided his hand through the air and pointed towards a black Jaguar which looked so elegant and sophisticated in the sunlight.

“I’m so sorry! I just didn’t expect… I didn’t expect that to be your car! I mean, I don’t want to offend you. Don’t be mad.” I was talking quickly as I realised the mistake I had made.

“Don’t worry about it, no harm done!” He still had a sneer on his face.

I walked to the car and he opened the passenger door for me, helping me in with my bags. We were floating down the street as he concentrated on the road but couldn’t help staring into my eyes every so often. His facial features were so soft; I could indulge myself in it all day if I could.