Headstrong (A Benedict Cumberbatch Story)

Chapter 4

"Excuse me." I kept my head down, hiding under my hood in the relentless rain, as I tried to get past a person standing right in the middle of the pavement. They weren't moving. 

"Excuse me." I said, louder. Squinting through the heavy downpour, I saw the tall, lean figure of Ellie, staring into space and soaked to the skin. Her makeup was smudged half-way down her face and she looked utterly forlorn. Waving a hand in front of her face, she didn't blink.

"E- Ellie?" I shouted, hesitantly. We were right next to a cafe with welcoming warm light spilling out the open door. I led her carefully through to a back table and took the drenched cardigan from around her shoulders, replacing it with a dry jumper from my bag. 

Suddenly she shivered, realised where she was and starting sobbing quietly. I ordered her a tea and let her cry, not knowing her well enough to comfort her any more. When she'd finished, I cleared my throat and looked at her expectantly. Ellie sighed and turned to face me.

"Thanks for... this. I just couldn't take it anymore. Benedict's off galivanting somewhere for his music and  I just miss him." I smiled sympathetically and, surprisingly, she took my hand resting on the table. 

"Have you ever missed someone so much that you feel like you're going to break if you don't see them walking down the road towards you?" she asked, and I nodded. I lost my mum 2 years ago, and occasionally I have fantasies about her coming out of the shop on the other side of the high street, or seeing her face in the back of the bus. I knew how she felt. 

"Except he is coming back. How much longer?" I said softly, and she told me there was another month to go. 

"Well there are so many things that can distract you for a month. You could take a holiday yourself, you could get a pet, and you can spend a whole day shopping in London!" I smiled, and Ellie smiled back. Her tea arrived and she cheered up pretty quickly, talking about what she liked to do in the city. I listened politely, and then was caught off-guard by her invitation to find a pet.

"I love your cat, he always looks so sophisticated and regal. I'd love a cat like that. You could come and help me find one. If you'd like. Then we could go shopping afterwards!" 

I was taken-aback. Here I was in the first place comforting my crush's girlfriend about him being away, now I was about to accept the offer of spending some time with her. A very small part of me felt like I was breaking a vow I'd made to hate Ellie. But her tears and her eager face were just too much. 

"Ok." I smiled, and she clapped her hands excitedly. 

10 minutes later she thanked me again for making her feel better, and left, her now dry dark curls swishing across her back and hips swaying. I sighed, paid for her tea and left too. 

I headed for the supermarket for some groceries and trudged slowly up and down the aisles till I reached self-serving. The machine was being difficult as usual, and I was busy muttering insults at it whilst putting yet another shopper in the bagging area, as it had been repeatedly instructing me. It finally allowed me to leave, and I stalked out, now fully irritated and not in the mood for anything other than to go home and eat, watch Bill and Ted and sleep. Of course that was never going to happen without a complication.

Mattthew was walking towards me hurriedly, and I quickly darted into the bookshop as I passed it. I weaved in and out of the shelves to the back of the shop and waited quietly. Through a gap in the books, I saw Matthew's face dart past the window and away. I let out my breath and made my way back to the front. I stopped to browse the books and picked up an old copy of Sense and Sensibility. I flicked through and stopped on a page with a poem extract:

'Love is not love which alters when its alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove. Oh no, it is an-'

"There you are." I winced at the sound of Matthew's voice. He'd found me.

"What are you doing in a crummy old place like this?" he said, laughing, and I glanced at the owner as he came round the corner. I saw the slight hurt in his eyes and glared at Matthew.

"What do you want?" I said, a little rudely but I wasn't bothered about apologising to him. He cleared his throat and asked if I knew where Benedict was.

"My cat is fine, Matthew." I sighed. He shook his head,

"No no, Benedict from number 45. Do you know where he is?" 

"Of course not! I'm not his girlfriend so how would I know? Ask Ellie, she says he's away for his music." I snapped, and he snorted, unimpressed.

"For his music. Please."

I raised my eyebrows, "What, you don't think he's good?" 

"I don't think he's got the spine to survive in the music industry." 

"And you would know." I said sceptically. He shook his head, obviously getting the message that I wasn't interested and definitely wasn't in the mood for putting up with him. 

"I'll see you around, Maria." Matthew sloped out. At the sound of the doorbell, the owner of the bookshop came out to the table of books I was standing by and folded his arms. I apologised for Matthew's comment,

"It really isn't crummy at all. I love the feeling in here, it's a little piece of quiet in the middle of a busy street." 

He smiled, comforted, 

"Thank you. I often see you browsing, that I do. I'm guessing he wasn't a friend of yours?" 

I laughed a little, "No, no he's not. He wants to be but I'm just not interested." 

He nodded understandingly and asked if I was going to buy the Jane Austen book. I swapped it for a collection of her poems instead, bought it and went home.

 **

"Bill? Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."

Strange things were afoot. Ellie was starting to become my friend, Matthew was keeping tabs on Benedict and and a telephone box just appeared in front of Bill and Ted.