The Surrogate Sister (a Sherlock fanfiction)

Chapter 6

Sherlock, John, and Victoria step out of the cab and stand before a small family-owned Italian restaurant.

“Why here?” John asks.

“The owner owes me a few favors.” Sherlock replies, examining the entrance.

“What did you do this time?”

“Got him out of a death sentence.” Sherlock turns to John. “Framed by his twin brother.”

“Ahh.” John nods and puts his hands in his pockets.

Sherlock, looking between John and Victoria, says, “Shall we?”

“Sophia?”

Victoria breathes an annoyed sigh and rolls her eyes. She turns around with a fake smile plastered on her face. A tall, scrawny young man slams his cab’s door and makes his way towards them. His big steps looked awkward with his long legs and a goofy smile is spread across his face. He is wearing khaki pants with a blue button up shirt. He pushes up his glasses and waves.

“Oh… Hello Jeffery!” Victoria greets him in a perfect British accent. John and Sherlock glance at each other and share a confused look.

“Wow!” Jeffery catches up and stands before Victoria, looking her over. “You look great!”

Feeling uncomfortable, she mutters, “Thanks.”

“Time has just flown by, hasn’t it? How long has it been since we last saw each other?”

“Not long enough,” Victoria mumbles under breath.

“I’m sorry?”

“Oh, nothing. How have you been? I heard about your father… quite a shame.”

“Oh, yeah…” Jeffery pauses and runs his fingers through his greasy, dirty-blonde hair. “Can you believe that he ran a drug cartel? My father, of all people!” Jeffery chuckles, snorting in the process.

“Yeah…” she starts to turn to leave. “Well it was nice –”

“What happened, Sophia? You disappeared all of a sudden and I never heard back from you?”

“I… uh… Ava got a job and we had to move to, uh, Paris and I, uh, lost your number… and your email… and really any way of contacting you.”

“Oh, what a shame.”

“Yup.” Victoria tries to leave again. “Um, well I better be –”

“Is that Sherlock Holmes?” Jeffery asks, eyes wide looking past Victoria. Before she could answer, he pushes Victoria to the side and walks towards Sherlock and John. “Oh, wow! The Sherlock Holmes!” He takes Sherlock’s hand and starts shaking it. “I am a BIG fan!”

“Thank you.” Sherlock smiles a fake smile, feeling a bit annoyed. He looks at Victoria, who looks just as frustrated and flashes him an apologetic smile.

Jeffery releases Sherlock’s hand. “Oh! I have a reservation if you’d like to join me.” He gestures to the restaurant.

“A reservation for one?” John asks, eyebrow raised.

“Why, yes, of course.” Jeffery smiles and turns to Victoria. “Maybe you and I can do some catching up. I’ve really missed you.”

“We were actually just leaving.” Victoria says quickly, flashing Sherlock a ‘help me’ glare. Sherlock nods and proceeds to call a cab.

“Oh, so soon?” Jeffery slumps his shoulders in disappointment.

A cab pulls over and John and Sherlock quickly make their way inside. Victoria follows. “Yeah we’re… busy.”