A Picture says it All (Benedict Cumberbatch FanFiction)

Chapter 5

While Lisa and Karen went to get ready for a night out on the town, Peter and Benedict was sitting on the couch, you could cut the tension with a knife, every time Benedict started saying something Peter would give him a look that would say, don’t even try mate. After a couple of minutes, Peter started pacing around the room.

In Karen’s room Lisa was starting to regret saying they should go out for drinks.”Karen what have I done?” Lisa started pacing around the room, going so fast it made Karen dizzy. “Sweetie if you don’t settle down, you are going to make me drunk before we even leave the flat.” Karen walked over to her wardrobe; she took out one dress after the other, holding dresses up in front of Lisa, declaring each one the best one for her, before tossing it aside on a pile. After some debate Lisa finally decided on a dress. Karen slipped on a short tight black sparkly dress, with a plunging neckline; she gave Lisa the purple slip of material, telling her to put it on.

Karen turned around starting to pile her blonde hair into a messy bun, dabbing her eyes with the mascara wand. Lisa took off her clothes, putting on the purple dress, she looked at herself in the mirror, and she was shocked at what the dress did for her. It was a plain dress, short ending well above the knee, with a sparkly flower motive running down the length of the dress. She smiled at Karen. Karen then walked over, pinning Lisa’s hair up and inserting a white beaded flower into her hair. Karen stepped back, “Mission accomplished you are going to knock him out.” Karen gave her a quick hug and danced out of the room.

Lisa looked in the mirror once more, smiling she had to admit she did look good. She took a deep breath heading to the front room. She could hear Karen was entertaining the boys. She walked into the room, watching Benedict’s face. She loved how his mouth dropped when he spotted her, it reminded her of Lestrade’s face in Sherlock when he saw Molly at Christmas. He gathered his composure quickly, “You look amazing.” He offered her his arm, leading her out of the door, the other couple following behind them. They made their way down to the street, hailing a taxi, Benedict gave the driver the address of a club where he liked to go because it was always quiet and he wanted to get to know Lisa. Karen and Peter got in first and Benedict helped Karen in, before getting in himself.

Benedict could see that Peter kept eyeing him. He shrugged his shoulders, as if to convey to Peter he wasn’t interested in Karen. He kept glancing in Lisa’s direction, a wisp of her hair has escaped from the pins, and she brushed it out of her eyes, and looked over at him, smiling.

When the driver dropped them of in front of the club, Benedict led them to the bouncer, getting them in without any charge. Lisa was surprised at how he had the power to got big tattooed guys to swoon over him. He took Lisa’s hand in his, leading them all to the section where he normally sat. It gave him a good view of the club, and hid them from prying eyes. They took their places at the table, Benedict and Lisa sitting across from each other, Karen sat next to Lisa; Peter sat down in a huff next to Benedict. When the waiter came over, they gave him their orders.

The drinks finally came, beers for each of the guys and pink fruity ones for the girls. They toasted to a great night. Then Katy Perry’s Roar came on, Peter grabbed Karen’s hand, pulling her to the dance floor. Lisa watched as they danced together. Lisa could hear Karen’s voice over the song; this was by far Karen’s favourite song. Benedict leaned closer to Lisa “They look like they are having a lot of fun.” Lisa turned her attention back to Benedict, “Yes they do.” Benedict leaned back in his chair, taking a long sip of his beer, “So how did you meet her?” Lisa’s eyes drifter back to Karen, a soft smile spreading across her face. Benedict liked her smile, watching her closely, studying her face. “Karen is amazing, we met the day I came to London, I moved in that evening.” Benedict looked surprised, “That quickly? That really is trust.” Lisa shook her head, “I don’t know about trust, we just sort of clicked, you know? We chatted for while I was getting my first Starbucks coffee, when she received her order, she joined me at my table, and we just hit it off.” Lisa looked back at Benedict, nervously pulling at her dress. “So Mr Cumberbatch, what makes you want to spend your evening off with a photographer and her friends?” Lisa could see a soft blush spreading from Benedict’s neck; he kept running his finger around the rim of the glass, not making eye contact. After a short time, he cleared his throat “I just wanted to get out, and when I saw you at the recording, the idea just popped in my head, then you disappeared, and I um, just went out on a limb ” Benedict rambled all this so fast, Lisa could see a little of his character Sherlock sneaking through. She smiled at him, “Mr Cumberbatch I do believe your Sherlock is showing.”

Just then her favourite song Bonfire Hearts by James Blunt started playing, she saw Karen skipping over to them. Karen grabbed Lisa’s hand pulling her out of her chair, Karen looked at Benedict, “Are you two going to join us? Or is this a coffee bar?” Benedict stayed seated looking at Lisa and Karen walking back to Peter. Peter grabbed Karen and started dancing again, at first he thought Lisa might come back to the table, but she wasn’t bothered, she started dancing to the music, her hips swaying to the rhythm of the song. He was mesmerised by her, he couldn’t place a finger on it, and there was just something about it. She turned facing him, crooking her finger, indicating he should join her. As he was getting up, he could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket. He looked at the screen *MARTIN*

Benedict looked up at Lisa, pointing to his phone as he answered it. “Martin what’s up?” he could hear Martin chuckling on the other end of the line, and a familiar voice calling hallo. “Ben, I’m in town and Amanda and I want to get out, where are you?” Benedict could just shake his head. “I’m at my usual spot, with a couple of friends, come and join me, if you’re up for it old man.” Benedict placed his phone back in his pocket. Walking over to join Lisa, he would keep Martin joining them a surprise.

A couple of songs later, Lisa grabbed his hand pulling him to the bar, when they got to the counter she leaned heavily against it “Water, I need water!” she shouted over the music. They placed their order and just as they were about to turn around, Benedict heard familiar voices behind him. He smiled as he pulled Lisa over to Martin and Amanda. He could see realisation dawn on Lisa’s face as she recognised Martin. Benedict gave Martin and Amanda a hug each before introducing Lisa to them.  “Lisa, this is Martin Freeman and his partner Amanda Abbington, Martin Amanda, this is Lisa.”

Lisa first shook Martin’s hand, not believing she was actually shaking his hand, “I’m honoured to meet you, I saw you in The Hobbit, WOW, and...” Lisa stopped herself from rambling; almost letting slip she remembered seeing him in Love Actually. When she turned to Amanda she was surprised to be engulfed in a big hug. “Lovely to meet you” Amanda beamed at Lisa. Martin and Benedict stepped aside, ordering drinks for them, while Amanda and Lisa made their way over to their seats.

As they sat down, Lisa felt awkward, “So where did you meet Ben?” Amanda asked Lisa, “I am a photographer, he was my first assignment, and the first time I dropped a camera” Lisa mumbled. “Broke a camera? How?” Amanda smiled genuinely showing an interest in Lisa, this made her feel more at ease. Lisa loved Amanda’s style; she had short brown hair cut in an adorable pixie cut, with a cute dress, and tights on. Lisa launched into the story of how she and Benedict met, and how the camera fell. By the time the guys joined them again, they were talking like old friends.

Benedict pulled chairs over, when Martin looked at him quizzically; he explained that Lisa had friends who were still on the dance floor. This reminded Lisa of Karen. “I need to probably go over and get them.” She said excusing herself. Walking over to where Karen and Peter were dancing. Benedict found himself watching her again. Out of the blue he felt a blow to his arm. Grabbing his arm, he looked at Martin shocked. “What the fuck Martin?” he rubbed his arm, “Why didn’t you tell me you were on a date Ben, I could’ve taken Amanda out somewhere romantic instead!” Amanda snorted until she saw his face “Oh you are serious?”Martin just glared at her before turning his full gaze back to Benedict. “I wasn’t on a date, we were just hanging out, and her friends are here as well.” Ben pointed over to where Lisa was now also subtly trying to point over to the table, preparing Karen for who was at the table.  Martin rolled his eyes as he saw Lisa walking back to the table, behind her was a blonde girl bursting out of her skin with excitement and a young man, who looked like he was fuming.