Unsaid Words

A Scandal in Belgravia

"Who the hell is Irene Adler?"

Jim was tying his tie in the bathroom mirror when Seb called this from the other side of the flat.

"What?" Jim asked, confused.

"Who's Irene Adler?" Seb repeated, seeming to move farther away.

"What are you talking about?" Jim asked, walking out of the bathroom with his tie half-tied.

"I found her contact in your phone," Seb answered, sounding confused. "And in your call history. It says you called her the time you left in the middle of the night. It looks like it was on your way back."

"Why are you looking through my phone?" Jim asked, looking for Seb in the kitchen but not finding him there.

"You could be cheating on me and you expect me not to look through your phone?"

"Where the hell are you?"

"In here!"

Jim followed his voice into an unused room (meant to be a storage room; Jim only kept extra toiletries in it and occasionally went inside to get more shampoo).

Seb was standing against the wall, holding Jim's phone.

"Irene is an acquaintance of mine," Jim answered, walking over to him. "She has a job where it's easy to find dirt on the people she works for, so I keep her properly funded, and she supplies me with blackmail."

"What's her job?" Seb asked, not looking up at Jim.

"Um..." Jim said awkwardly.

"Because she has her own website with some interesting pictures on it," Seb said passive-aggressively. He changed the app that was open, showing Irene's website. The opening picture happened to be a flattering picture of her laying on her stomach in a thong.

"I find this on your phone and you expect me to think you're not cheating on me?" Seb demanded angrily. "You told me you were completely gay!"

"I never said that!" Jim argued. He suddenly realized that saying that didn't remotely help his case.

"So I'm not enough for you, is that what this is about?" Seb asked angrily. "So you've been paying some whore to do it instead?"

"Dominatrix," Jim corrected quietly.

"Test me one more time, I dare you!" Seb shouted, moving away from the wall and facing Jim directly. "I am this close to leaving right now and telling Becca she was damn right about you!"

"Seb, I swear I never...!"

"Sure!" Seb shouted. "And while you're at it, invite Sherlock over while I'm gone. I'm warning you, he might notice that someone else's been living here since he's a hell of a lot smarter than you, bitch!"

Seb pushed Jim out of his way and walked out of the storage room, towards the front door.

"Seb!" Jim shouted, running after him. "Come back! Please!"

"Don't call me that!" Seb shouted, yanking the door open and walking out.

"Don't go out without a coat; you'll catch cold!" Jim called after him, reaching for his arm. It was just out of reach.

"Because you would care about that!" Seb shouted angrily, walking quickly away him.

"Seb, please!" Jim called after him, rubbing as fast as he could (not very fast). "Remember how you felt when Becca..."

"Don't you dare talk to me about her!" Seb shouted, whipping around to face Jim, pointing a finger in his face. "It's your fault I'm not with her right now! At least she cared about me enough to respect my Goddamn personal space!"