I am not lonely [Mystrade]

CHAPTER 180 :Help requiered

To Mycroft's greatest surprise, the day had been relatively calm for a  Thursday and at five in the afternoon, he was already quite done with  everything he had planned to achieve. A crisis had been solved just  before it happened in Uganda and trial of an industrial spy was nicely  going on the way under the close monitoring of the elder Holmes.

It  was only a few days since the politician had been authorized to  reinvest his Diogenes club's office and it seemed like the austere and  isolated room was boosting his productivity. For the first time in weeks  he had been able to undergo an entire day of work without someone  coming knocking on the door except his assistant and even the phone, so  prompt to ring at the worst time, had behaved itself. Overall, the  familiar environment was filling the official with joy and serenity and  the prospect of being back home early was quite a joyful feeling.

Sighing,  he grabbed his burning cup of tea and relaxed back in his chair. He was  staring absent-mindedly at the frames on his desk when he suddenly  remembered the date. One of the dearest family friend was getting  married in two days, and he had completely forgotten about her present !

Time  had fly since Sally's engagement dinner and crisis had unfolded one  after the other, never giving the official a chance to carefully have a  look at the matter of the wedding gift. Slightly panicked, he grabbed  his computer and started browsing on the website of his favourite  department stores in the quest of the perfect present.

He knew  that the woman would not want something too ostentatious or space  consuming but god knew he had no idea what could be pleasant and useful  to a thirtysomething girl. He was starting to be rather depressed not to  find anything when he remembered that he in fact had a thirtysomething  woman in the next door office.

"Anthea !" he cried out, hoping his assistant wasn't up to something more important.

"Yes sir ?" the young woman replied a few seconds later, popping her head through her boss' office's door.

"Thanks god ! I really, really do need your help." the man admitted, nodding to her to enter the room.

"How may I come of use ?" the PA chuckled, understanding that the situation was nothing of a professional matter.

"What would you like as a wedding gift ?" the politician questioned out of the blue.

"I am not getting married." Anthea replied, not expecting it at all.

"No I know, but if you were to get married what would you like ?" the elder Holmes corrected himself, understanding his clumsiness.

"I don't know, something useful I suppose." the woman retorted, having a look at the items her boss was browsing through.

They  spent the next hour browsing through the different stores' website,  trying to find the best gift but it seemed like if they just couldn't  find it. They had easily decided that it shouldn't be any clothing or  home hardware piece but something more special and despite the thousands  of items they could choose from, nothing had really attracted their  eyes.

Hopeless, they resorted to come out from the Diogenes Club  and go for a stroll through the shops, hoping that seeing the physical  products would make a difference. Funnily enough, it was probably one of  the first time Mycroft had invited his adjunct - friend ? - to share a private moment with him that was something else than just a more or less formal dinner at his place.

Oxford  street was exceptionally busy for an October afternoon and the inside  of the stores were as crowded. Renouncing to Harrods, the most popular,  Mycroft and Anthea made their way to Selfridges a few streets down the road. The atmosphere was festive, Christmas  apparently already in the air and the first floor was already packed  with everything you needed for the celebrations. Not sure that a set of  tinsel was the ideal gift, the two of them joined the Home and Tech  department on the last floor.