A Picture says it All (Benedict Cumberbatch FanFiction)

Chapter 2

Lisa looked at the camera as it fell to the ground. It felt like it was happening in slow motion. She grabs at the camera, but to no avail, “Oh no” she falls to her knees gathering the camera, she starts going over it, looking at the surface. No cracks was on the plastic casing, but when she turned it over she could see the crack running through the LCD screen, she then looked at the lens, luckily no cracks was visible. She turns it over taking a quick shot of the tiled floor; she looked at the image on the screen, heaving a sigh of relief. The screen can be replaced. She felt a hand on her shoulder, looking at it; she saw the long slender fingers gently massaging her shoulder. She looked up at him, tears still running down her face. “I am so sorry” she breathes, He kneels down next to her. “Is it salvageable?” Their eyes meet and to Lisa it felt like the whole world slowed down. She could feel her heart racing.

“Yes it’s just a cracked screen, it can be fixed.” She gave him a small smile, wiping away the wetness from her cheeks, “I am being silly, and it’s been a long week, filled with new things.” Benedict looked at her, trying to figure something out. That little crease between his eyes forming. “Your accent, it sounds familiar.” She shook her head, “I doubt you would know it, I am from South Africa.” A big grin spread across his face, “Yes I knew it! I love South Africa; I’ve been there for a job before.”

Lisa smiled at him, “Most people don’t even know where to find it on a map. Where were you when you were in South Africa?”Benedict launched into an explanation of the miniseries ‘To the end of the earth’. “We were filming in Kwazulu-Natal near Durban.” Lisa knew where this was; her family vacationed there once or twice. “I am from Bloemfontein; it’s in the centre of the country.” She fell silent for a minute. “Wait a second, I think I have heard of you, aren’t you the Brit who was abducted?” A dark look crossed Benedict’s face for a brief period. He shook his head almost like he was clearing his mind, “Yes, my friends I were abducted, but I don’t want to talk about it. How about that picture then? Don’t want your boss to fire you.” Benedict walked away from Lisa; she sensed this was his way of changing the subject.

She grabbed her camera and with the new found confidence she snapped a couple of pictures of Benedict pulling his bag behind him. She looked at the images. “Thank you so much, I didn’t think you will be this kind.” She turned to Bert who was still patiently waiting for her. “Want to share a cab love?” Bert asked her. She nodded her consent and turned to Benedict, “Thank you again Benedict.” She extended her hand towards him, he gently took it with his big ones, and they almost dwarfed hers. “Please call me Ben; I hope to see you again.” She walked towards Bert, turning quickly waving goodbye. She slipped her camera in her bag while walking next to Bert.

When they got to the curb, there was only one taxi waiting. Bert called it over and just as they were climbing in, Lisa felt someone tapping her on the shoulder. “Would you mind terribly if I shared the cab, my driver seems to have left?” Benedict was standing behind her, with an apologetic smile playing on his lips. “Sure Ben!” Bert said overly enthusiastic. Lisa slid into the cab and Bert let Benedict go before him. He made to climb in after him. “Oh darn, I forgot, I was supposed to wait for another flight to come in. You guys go with this one, I need to head back.” Bert gave Lisa a wink and closed the door, standing at the curb, smiling like the Cheshire cat. Benedict watched him as they pulled away from the curb. “You know he did that on purpose?” He asked her, “But I am glad he did.”

Benedict gave the driver his address, and as they got into the late evening traffic, they both stared out the windows, looking at the traffic. Lisa loved the bustle of London. It was so much different from Bloemfontein. She chuckled when remembering her mother’s call earlier this week, how shocked she was that when she was late that morning that she was stuck in traffic for a full 10 minutes. In London a short drive in a taxi at the wrong time could land you in that taxi for an hour. When she looked at Ben she saw he was staring at her with those fascinating eyes of his. “What are you laughing at?” he asked her curiously. “I was just thinking about our rush hour back home. It never took this long to get anywhere, even at peak hours.” She smiled to herself again. They were nearing where she stayed. Inside her head she was screaming at herself to say something, anything. But she couldn’t come up with anything. She looked at him from the corner of her eye. He had a lovely profile, a long neck, he was quite skinny, but somehow this suited him. When the pulled up to the curb next to her building, he got out and held the door open for her. She walked past him, she turned to say goodbye, and thought how rude, he was getting back into the taxi without even saying goodbye, she was about to turn away when she heard him asking the taxi driver to give him a second.

He walked with her to her door, “I hope you got good shots, I want to see you around again.” She blushed and inserted the key into the lock. She turned back to him “Thank you for being so gracious about the whole thing. I was so scared. Now that my first task went so well, I am sure it will only get better.” He leaned in, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek. “It was only my pleasure. See you around Lisa.” He turned around, walking back to the cab. He gave her a wave as the taxi drove away. Lisa sighed softly. She knew she might see him again. But then he probably won’t even remember who she was.

She went into the building, heading up to the second floor to her apartment. When she got to the door, she heard voices from within. Karen her roommate probably got in early from work. She pushed the door open to find Karen chatting with a young man, beaming up at her. “Hey roomy! How was your first assignment?” Lisa walked past her grabbing her laptop, sitting down between the two of them, knowing she was barging in on a private moment. She plugged her camera in, and loaded the pictures on the screen. Lisa looked at Karen, “What do you think?” Lisa didn’t expect Karen to do what she did.

Karen jumped on the couch energetically swinging her arms around, screaming at the top of her voice “The Cumberlord has returned! The Cumberblord has returned! I thought he will never come back. He is my all time favourite actor.” She heard the young man give a sigh and he shook his head. “I really don’t know why all the girls go crazy like this over this Banadict Cucumber guy.” Karen grabbed his arm, pulling him to the door. “It’s B-E-N-E-D-I-C-T Cumberbatch, Dickhead!” she pushed him out the door, running back to the couch. Grabbing my laptop and staring at all the pictures.

Lisa’s mouth hung open, looking incredulously at her. “Why did you do that?” Lisa asked her when she finally got her voice back. Karen looked at me as if to say have you lost your mind. Karen rolled her eyes at Lisa, “Benedict Cumberbatch is the UK’s biggest actor, he is the one that made intelligence the new sexy. Have you seen any of his work?” Lisa shook her head, feeling embarrassed. Karen jumped up, running to her room, yelling as she went. “Well my friend, prepare to be educated!”